Fairfield Hills—

Traffic Authority Endorses Access Plan For Ambulance Corps

By Andrew Gorosko

The Police Commission, serving as the traffic authority, has endorsed the Newtown Volunteer Ambulance Corps’ proposal to allow its planned ambulance headquarters/garage at Fairfield Hills to be directly linked via a driveway to Wasserman Way.

Police Commission members unanimously approved the direct-driveway link to Wasserman Way following discussion at an October 2 session.

At a September 4 meeting, some commission members had suggested that the ambulance corps should take advantage of the presence of a four-way traffic signal at the intersection of Wasserman Way and Trades Lanes and travel through that intersection when ambulances depart from Fairfield Hills on emergency calls.

The traffic consultant for the ambulance corps then studied which of the two access proposals would make for a better departure route for ambulances.

At the October 2 session, traffic engineer Michael Galante of Frederick P. Clark Associates Inc, representing the corps, expressed concerns that routing exiting ambulances through the Fairfield Hills campus road network to the traffic signal would translate into longer response times to emergency calls.

Such response times could increase by 90 to 120 seconds when using an exit route through the campus, he said. Mr Galante added that the time calculation assumed that the traffic signal would be regulated by a “preemption device” through which an ambulance on an emergency call automatically would be provided with the right-of-way through the signalized intersection.

Mr Galante told Police Commission members that there can be much human activity at Fairfield Hills, adding that some people have a tendency to walk on the public streets there. Also, public events often are held there on weekends, increasing the number of people present, he said.

State traffic officials have agreed to allow the ambulance corps to have a direct driveway link to Wasserman Way, Mr Galante told Police Commission members.

The state plans to install traffic signs on Wasserman Way concerning  travel speeds and road curvature near the ambulance site, he said.

Those state-installed traffic warning signs would indicate to motorists that the speed limit is reduced in that area; that curves are ahead; and that a road section there becomes hazardous when wet. Also, the ambulance corps would install traffic signs indicating the presence of a driveway intersection that is used by emergency vehicles. Additionally, the driveway would be posted with signs restricting its use to emergency vehicles.

Mr Galante told Police Commission members that his firm is “very careful” in terms of where it proposes driveways, adding that the company analyzed traffic accidents along that section of Wasserman Way for the past six years in determining the best access for the ambulance headquarters/garage. The driveway link to Wasserman Way would carry two-way traffic for emergency vehicles, he said.

Commission members then unanimously endorsed creating a direct driveway to link the ambulance facility to Wasserman Way.

The applicant also needs traffic approval from state traffic officials because Wasserman Way is State Route 860, although it is not posted with a route marker.

As part of its June approval for the 14,560-square-foot ambulance headquarters/garage building, the Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z) required that the ambulance association receive approval from the Police Commission for a driveway link to Wasserman Way.

The driveway would extend from the headquarters/garage site to the south side of Wasserman Way, east of its intersection with Mile Hill Road South.

The ambulance corps is planning to construct an approximately $4 million ambulance headquarters/garage at Fairfield Hills to replace its outmoded 3,600-square-foot facility at 77 Main Street. The current ambulance garage formerly served as a gasoline filling station.