Police Commission Tackles Several Traffic Issues

By Andrew Gorosko

In their role as the local traffic authority, Police Commission members are addressing several traffic issues.

Those issues include an ongoing state traffic planning project establishing the best temporary diversionary routes for Interstate 84 traffic in the event that emergencies require the closure of highway sections.

Commission members are also reviewing the effectiveness of a pair of large temporary speed bumps that have been installed on Key Rock Road to slow traffic near a school bus stop.

Also under review is the use by heavy trucks of the residential Mile Hill Road South.

At a November 2 Police Commission session, Police Chief Michael Kehoe showed commission members sets of tentative plans that have been formulated by state traffic planners intended to specify the best routes for I-84 traffic to take through town in the event that sections of the highway are temporarily closed to traffic.

Those plans indicate how traffic would be routed on local roads if I-84 traffic was required to get off the highway at Exits 9, 10, or 11.

The plans address diversionary routes based on whether eastbound, westbound, or both eastbound and westbound traffic would need to be diverted from I-84.

Also, diverting traffic from I-84 at Exit 8 and Exit 13 is under review. Diversions at those exits, which lie in other towns, could result in traffic flowing on local Newtown roads, based on the circumstances of a given emergency.

Chief Kehoe told commission members that state traffic planners are nearing a final draft of their traffic diversion plans for I-84 traffic in this area.

The completed plans would include provisions for the positioning of police officers at specific points to direct traffic and also the placement of electronic message signs to advise motorists of the temporary diversionary routes.

At the session, the Police Commission reviewed eight sets of I-84 diversionary traffic plans that would potentially affect Newtown.

Speed Tables

In a more local matter, resident James Walsh of 3 North Branch Road thanked commission members for installing two temporary experimental “speed tables” on Key Rock Road, near its intersection with North Branch Road. The portable speed tables are broad rubberized speed bumps intended to reduce the speed of traffic.

Mr Walsh said the presence of the speed tables has reduced motorists’ general speed in the area. “They work, big time,” he said.

Also, Mr Walsh thanked police officials for resetting the speed limit in the area at 20 miles per hour, which is 5 mph slower than the previous posted 25-mph limit.

During the past several months, Mr Walsh has represented his neighbors before the commission in seeking measures to slow the speed of traffic on Key Rock Road near a school bus stop.

All people whom he has contacted in his neighborhood favor the speed reduction measures that police have taken on Key Rock Road, he said.

Mr Walsh pointed out, however, that some motorists driving through the area, in apparent protest of the speed tables’ presence, blow their auto’s horns. Key Rock Road links Sugar Street (Route 302) to Hattertown Road.

“Thank you. In my estimation, it’s working,” he said of the speed calming measures.

Public Works Director Fred Hurley said this week that the town plans to remove the temporary speed tables by late this month or early next month, before winter weather sets in.

The speed tables’ are temporarily in place on Key Rock Road in conjunction with a traffic study on that street to gauge whether speed tables are effective in reducing travel speeds. Such data would be used in determining whether it would make sense to possibly install permanent speed tables there that would be made of durable road-construction materials.

Mile Hill Road South

Also at the November 2 Police Commission session, resident Lisa Wallace of 43 Mile Hill Road South expressed her concerns about safety hazards posed by heavy trucks using that residential street that links Wasserman Way to Turkey Hill Road.

The town Public Works Department, which has many heavy trucks, is located on Turkey Hill Road.

Ms Wallace said that after she raised the truck traffic issue with town officials, she has noticed that not as many town trucks are traveling on Mile Hill Road South. Also, heavy trucks using the road appear to be traveling more slowly, she said.

Ms Wallace said that heavy trucks using the road as a shortcut creates a safety hazard for residents there.

Police Commission Chairman Duane Giannini suggested that police intensify their traffic enforcement on Mile Hill Road South in terms of heavy trucks using that street. “This will not be something we will lose sight of,” he said.