Town Center Traffic Improvement Plan Draws Criticism

By Andrew Gorosko

At a session this week on a town center traffic improvement plan, some residents criticized a concept to modify the Main Street flagpole intersection, while others raised doubts about other recommended traffic improvement concepts.

More than 80 people attended a Borough Board of Burgesses session December 19, which addressed the Queen Street Area Traffic Improvement Plan, a 29-page draft planning document produced by Vollmer Associates, LLP, of Hamden, which covers potential traffic improvements in the town center during the coming 20 years.

The report contains about 40 basic recommendations for traffic improvements. The consultants investigated traffic problems to recommend various improvement options for Queen Street, Glover Avenue, Church Hill Road (Route 6), Main Street (Route 25), Mile Hill Road (Route 860), and Commerce Road.

Vollmer produced the traffic plan for the Housatonic Valley Council of Elected Officials (HVCEO), on behalf of the town.

Following future added public comment on the traffic plan, town officials would set road improvement priorities and apply for grants to be used toward specific improvements.

Burgess James Gaston of 18 Main Street said, “I have some serious concerns about this [traffic plan].”

Mr Gaston questioned why the traffic consultants recommend that traffic traveling in the Queen Street area be diverted to Main Street simply because Main Street is a state road. Such a diversion would be “unfair,” said Mr Gaston.

The object of traffic planning should be to create slower traffic speeds, not divert traffic, he said.

Mr Gaston also questioned the proposal to reconfigure the congested Main Street flagpole intersection, including provisions to install traffic signals and reorganize the traffic patterns in that area.

“Are you concerned with the ambience of Main Street?” Borough Warden Joan Crick of 7 Glover Avenue asked the Vollmer traffic planners.

Kermit Weixue Hua of Vollmer responded that aesthetic concerns are considered in such traffic planning, noting that Vollmer has formulated many different versions of how the flagpole intersection could be improved.

Installing a set of traffic signals and reconfiguring traffic flow at the flagpole intersection would improve the movement of traffic and pedestrians there, according to Vollmer.

Under the concept, the 100-foot-tall flagpole would remain at its current location and become part of a small center traffic island. No traffic signals or wiring would be attached to or hung from the flagpole.

The current eastbound section of West Street near the Newtown Meeting House would be converted to two-way traffic flow, and the current westbound section of West Street there would be closed to through- traffic and be used for parallel parking accessible via a driveway running parallel to Main Street.

The traffic study states there would be a loss of parking spaces in front of the Meeting House, but the visual appeal of the landmark would be enhanced by the addition of a front lawn.

The traffic report recommends that town officials discuss with the Borough Historic District Commission the need to improve the flagpole intersection, while preserving the historic character and beauty of the area.

Ms Crick asked the consultants what would happen if the improvements that they propose for the flagpole intersection prove unworkable. She suggested that police officers be positioned at the flagpole intersection for traffic control during peak traffic periods.

Resident Robert Hall, who owns 43 Main Street, which holds the Newtown General Store, said he opposes a proposal to reorganize the current parking scheme in front of that store and the adjacent Edmond Town Hall. Vehicles currently park perpendicularly in front of both those buildings. Eliminating perpendicular parking would damage the store’s commercial viability, he said.

First Selectman Herbert Rosenthal said December 20 that he favors continuing the current perpendicular parking design in front of town hall and the store.

Queen/Glover

Mr Hall said that the consultant’s specific proposal to alter the intersection of Queen Street and Glover Avenue would worsen traffic conditions at that intersection near Newtown Middle School.

In the draft report, Vollmer recommends that the triangular intersection of Queen Street and Glover Avenue be reconstructed as a modified “T” intersection, with a southbound right-turn bypass lane provided on Queen Street, plus the installation of associated crosswalks and traffic signs. Each leg of the three-way intersection would have a stop sign. Motorists who are entering westbound Glover Avenue on the bypass lane from southbound Queen Street would have to yield.

Also, crosswalks would be painted on the western and northern legs of the “T” intersection. A landscaping buffer to shield automotive headlamp glare would be planted in front of a house on the eastern side of the intersection. To make way for a safer “T” intersection, an existing triangular traffic island with mature trees and ornamental shrubs would need to be removed.

Of that proposal, Mr Hall said, “This is a design that is destined to be busy.”

Resident Bruce Walczak of 12 Glover Avenue said that the consultant’s proposed redesign of that intersection could make traffic matters worse there, creating a more confusing situation. Mr Walczak offered suggestions on how to improve the design. Mr Walczak served on an advisory panel to the traffic consultants.

Resident Karen Banks of West Street urged that there be a heightened police presence along Main Street and other traffic-prone areas to more strictly enforce the state traffic laws.

Resident Lisa Floros of 32 Queen Street urged that the town install speed bumps on the side streets extending from Queen Street, as well as on Queen Street itself. She also urged that a sidewalk be installed along the section of Queen Street south of Glover Avenue, as has been recommended by the consultants.

The consultants’ proposal calls for four broad speed bumps, known as “speed tables” to be installed along Queen Street to hold down traffic speeds. One speed table would be installed near the Newtown Middle School’s southern driveway. That speed table would have a crosswalk atop it. The other three speed tables would be installed on the section of Queen Street lying between Glover Avenue and Mile Hill Road. Also, a sidewalk would be installed on the west side of southern Queen Street.

Intersection Hazards

Resident Sherrie Bermingham of Main Street warned that the intersection of Queen Street and Church Hill Road is a dangerous place.

“Right now, it’s taking your life into your own hands,” she said of the difficulties that pedestrians have in crossing the streets there.

Police Chief Michael Kehoe responded that traffic signal improvements are scheduled for that intersection within the next nine months. Those improvements are designed to make it safer for pedestrians to cross the street.

Resident Peggy Spiro of Grand Place said that speeding is a common problem locally. In the short-term, police should heighten their traffic law enforcement, she said. “The most economical way to handle this is to ask for help from the police chief,” she said.

One Queen Street resident stressed that the basic problem underlying traffic problems in town is that motorists generally drive too fast.

Mr Gaston said that besides review by the burgesses, the draft traffic plan would be reviewed by other borough agencies.

Mr Rosenthal said that as the traffic plan evolves, it would be reviewed by the Police Commission, serving as the traffic authority, and later reviewed by the selectmen.

When those agencies are reviewing the plan, public comment would be heard, he said.

Town officials would then set priorities and make some decisions regarding which of the many recommendations should be pursued.

Excluding the consultants’ proposed extension of Commerce Road to Wasserman Way to create a local north-south connector road, the estimated cost of the consultants’ proposed traffic improvements is $1.89 million. Funding would come from local, state, federal, and private sources. Funding estimates are based on 2006 cost information. More than half of the required construction money may be available from state and federal sources.

During the past several years, Queen Street area residents often have attended Police Commission meetings in seeking to resolve concerns about the volume, speed, and noise of traffic along that congested road. The ensuing Queen Street Area Traffic Study stemmed from those residents’ interest in improving traffic conditions along that street.