On Queen Street—

Plans For Permanent Speed Bumps Progressing

By Andrew Gorosko

The town has interviewed two engineering firms and soon plans to select one for the design work required for the installation of permanent speed tables on the southern section of Queen Street.

Public Works Director Fred Hurley said October 10 that the town this week interviewed representatives of Milone & MacBroom, Inc, of Cheshire, and Frederick P. Clark Associates, Inc, of Fairfield.

Mr Hurley said that the town hopes to install permanent broad speed bumps, known as “speed tables,” before Thanksgiving. It is yet unclear how many speed bumps would be installed, bust most likely three, four, or five of the devices would be constructed, he said.

Since last April, two hard-rubber temporary speed bumps have been in place on Queen Street, near its intersections with Lovell’s Lane and Borough Lane. The devices were installed as an experiment to learn the practicality of having such speed control devices in place.

Queen Street area residents have long complained to the Police Commission about speeding motorists on Queen Street, a heavily traveled mile-long, north-south street that links Church Hill Road to Mile Hill Road. The speeding complaints have focused on the section of Queen Street lying between its intersections with Glover Avenue and Mile Hill Road.

The Police Commission serves as the local traffic authority.

“We’re trying to hit a happy balance” in terms of the locations and the number of speed bumps that would be installed on Queen Street, Mr Hurley said. Installing as few as two or as many as seven speed tables have been considered to better control Queen Street traffic speeds.

Mr Hurley said a final proposal for speed bump installation likely would be discussed by the Police Commission at its November 6 session. After a decision is made, the project would be constructed.

Commission members discussed the Queen Street speeding issue at their October 2 meeting.

At that session, resident Dan Shea of 44 Queen Street urged that the speed bump project be expedited, stressing the value of speed control on the street.

However, Wayne Addessi of 13 Lovell’s Lane told commission members that he lives near one of the temporary speed bumps. Vehicles traveling on Queen Street emit noise due to braking, rolling over the speed bumps, and then reaccelerating, he said.

Mr Addessi acknowledged the need to control traffic speeds there, suggesting the installation of stop signs as an alternate measure.

Police officials, however, have said that stop signs are not devices designed to lower travel speeds, but to stop traffic.

 At the meeting, Mr Hurley said that either the town road crew or a contractor would construct the Queen Street speed bumps. The overall goal of the project would be to have motorists travel at a sustained lower speed on Queen Street, he said.

The posted speed limit on Queen Street is 25 miles per hour. A design goal of the speed bump installation would be limiting travel speeds there to the 28 to 29 mph range.

Queen Street carries much more traffic than Key Rock Road, a street where the town installed two permanent speed bumps in the fall of 2011, following an experiment there with temporary speed bumps in the fall of 2010.

In response to the continuing complaints about traffic speeds on Queen Street, police conducted a traffic enforcement crackdown there.

During a 20-day period in February, police stopped 369 drivers on Queen Street for various violations. Those violations primarily involved speeding. Among those 369 motor vehicle stops, police issued three misdemeanor summonses, 166 infraction tickets, 155 written warnings, and 45 verbal warnings.