Some Suggestion

For State Traffic Officials

To the Editor:

If the two new “Big Green Signs” along I-84, suggesting Bridgeport-bound travelers use Exit 11 as an alternate to reach Route 25, complete the bypass (Mile Hill Road/Wasserman Way) project, then I am very disappointed in the way CDOT has left the project and in local officials for accepting CDOT’s shortsightedness.

The 12/1/2000 Bee article curiously states in consecutive sentences that “by all accounts” the bypass is a success although Main Street remains clogged with through traffic for several hours a day. As a property owner abutting Routes 6 and 25, I have observed no perceptible reduction in through traffic in the 2-3 years since the bypass opened, especially large trucks which pass by at all hours of the night. And every time I drive Wasserman Way, I see how little traffic uses this expensive roadway, compared to the volume that continues to slog through Routes 6 and 25. So, how can the Bypass be considered a success?

State and local officials may hope that the new I-84 signs may turn the tide, but I strongly doubt it. Presented with the choice of exiting directly onto Route 25, or taking a chance on an unnumbered “Alternate Route” that only promises to lead towards Route 25, 95 percent of Bridgeport-bound travelers on I-84 will opt for the former. The small “To I-84” signs put up along South Main Street near Mile Hill Road intersection didn’t help divert significant traffic to the bypass. More signs are not the answer.

Non-local “through” drivers understandably prefer to stay on a single, numbered, mapped route to reach their destination. So, Main Street and Church Hill Road will remain congested until the numbered routes through Newtown’s center are adjusted as follows:

Instead of following Church Hill Road between the Flagpole and I-84 Exit 10, US Route 6 should extend further south to the South Main Street-Mile Hill Road intersection, then follow the bypass. US 6 would continue east on I-84 from Exit 11.

Instead of following South Main and Main Streets north beyond Mile Hill Road, Route 25 should diverge east along the bypass to intersect I-84 at Exit 11. Route 25 should be terminated at Route 34, just beyond Exit 11.

Instead of “secret” State Route 490, the bypass should carry numbered, mapped designations of US Route 6 and State Route 25. Conversely, Church Hill Road should no longer carry a published route number.

The Mile Hill Road-South Main Street intersection should be reconstructed/regraded to permit northbound Route 25 through traffic to continue preferentially onto eastbound Mile Hill Road. This “T” intersection should be realigned so that the north leg becomes the stem of the “T”. Northbound traffic desiring to continue up Main Street towards the Flagpole would turn off here via a left-turn pocket lane and a redesigned traffic signal.

The northern segment of Route 25, between the Mount Pleasant Road-Hawleyville Road intersection and US Route 7 in Brookfield, should be changed to a completely new state route number. The revised Exit 9 signs on I-84 should inform that the destination towns for this new route number are Brookfield and Newtown (or Hawleyville) instead of Bridgeport.

I plan to mail a copy of this letter to CDOT, HVCEO, and Rep Wasserman for their review.

Cameron Gilchrist

2 Susan Lane, Newtown                December 4, 2000