Pedestrian Safety Changes Recommended For Queen Street

By Andrew Gorosko

The regional planning agency has provided the Police Commission with detailed recommendations on how to improve pedestrian safety on the congested northern section of Queen Street, an area that carries heavy school-related and commercial traffic.

Andrew Carrier, the regional planner with the Housatonic Valley Council of Elected Officials (HVCEO), and Steve O’Neill, a traffic engineer with Vanasse Hangen Brustlin, Inc, of Middletown, presented the report to Police Commission members March 4.

The Police Commission, which serves as the local traffic authority, adopted the report. The document will be forwarded to the Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z) for possible inclusion in the Town Plan of Conservation and Development, which is now under revision.

Mr Carrier said that if the pedestrian safety study is included in the town plan, it would improve the prospects of getting grants to cover the recommended pedestrian safety improvements.

The safety study’s goal was to determine what changes should be made to the 1,300-foot-long section of Queen Street lying between Church Hill Road and Glover Avenue to create a “pedestrian-safe” corridor.

Queen Street carries especially heavy traffic in the mornings and afternoons, when students are arriving at and leaving school. Newtown Middle School is located at 11 Queen Street, near the congested and hazardous intersection of Queen Street and Glover Avenue. Hawley School is at 29 Church Hill Road, near that road’s intersection with Queen Street.

Turning traffic that enters and exits commercial driveways along Queen Street compounds the traffic congestion there.

Currently, traffic signals are located at the intersection of Queen Street and Church Hill Road and also at the intersection of Queen Street and the main entrance to Newtown Shopping Village.

To alleviate traffic congestion on Queen Street, school officials have recommended that more students use school buses to decrease traffic volume. Many parents transport their children to and from school in private autos.

Safety Study

Presenting detailed maps to the Police Commission on March 4, Mr O’Neill explained the many changes that could be made along Queen Street to improve pedestrian safety. Those steps would include “traffic calming” measures intended to reduce “pedestrian/vehicle friction” in the area, he said.

Mr O’Neill said it would improve pedestrian safety in the area if the pedestrian-actuated traffic signal controls actually worked.

Police Commission members later recommended that the state put those pedestrian-actuated controls in service.

The traffic engineer also pointed out that the intersection of Queen Street and Glover Avenue is confusing to motorists. Two of the three legs of that intersection are controlled by stop signs, with southbound traffic on Queen Street having the right of way to continue southward on Queen Street or travel westward on Glover Avenue. Mr O’Neill pointed out that people who regularly use that intersection understand how it functions.

Mr O’Neill presented Police Commission members with a comprehensive list of changes that could be made along Queen Street to make the area safer for pedestrians and bicyclists. The area has been the scene of several vehicle/pedestrian accidents during the past few years.

The proposed changes provide the town with detailed list of improvements that should be made when money becomes available to do so, Mr O’Neill said.

Queen/Church Hill

The study provides eight changes that should be made at the intersection of Queen Street and Church Hill Road.

These changes include: installing pedestal-mounted “Walk/Don’t Walk” pedestrian signal indicators at each corner of the intersection; installing a crosswalk along the Queen Street approach to the intersection; installing handicapped accessible ramps at each end of the crosswalk across Church Hill Road on the eastern side of Queen Street; constructing a sidewalk on the eastern side of Queen Street between the intersection and Eton Center; improving vehicle access to properties on the southeastern corner of the intersection; providing consistent sidewalks along the northern and southern sides of Church Hill Road extending toward Hawley School; constructing a sidewalk along the southern side of Church Hill Road extending toward Main Street; and providing a “gateway treatment” at the intersection, with landscaping, signs, textured crosswalks, and antique lighting fixtures providing a “sense of arrival” for pedestrians, bicyclists, and motorists.

Queen Street

The study recommends 14 changes that should be made along the section of Queen Street between Church Hill Road and Glover Avenue.

These changes include: installing pedestal-mounted “Walk/Don’t Walk” pedestrian signal indicators at each corner of the intersection of Queen Street and the main entrance to Newtown Shopping Village, plus installing crosswalks on Queen Street south of that intersection and on the shopping center driveway; removing landscaping and signs on the southwestern corner of that intersection to improve sight lines; prohibiting a “right turn on red” for vehicles exiting that driveway; constructing curb extensions, textured surfaces, and in-pavement lighting at a midblock crosswalk in front of Newtown Middle School, and repositioning the sidewalk leading to the main entrance of the school.

The study also recommends: reconfiguring the southernmost driveway of the school to better show vehicle entry and exit points and also to improve pedestrian crossings of that driveway; improving “school zone” signs along Queen Street; improving truck restriction signs at access points to Queen Street and enforcing those truck restrictions; considering installing streetscape improvements, such as antique lighting, pedestrian amenities, and textured crosswalks; more strictly enforcing traffic laws in the area; pursuing improved vehicle access to properties; considering closing the accessway to Eton Center on Queen Street and providing full access to that shopping center at Church Hill Road, and considering creating a school bus and parental student drop-off/pick-up access to the middle school directly from Church Hill Road via a shared new access driveway behind Eton Center.

Queen/Glover

The pedestrian safety study recommends five possible changes for the intersection of Queen Street and Glover Avenue.

These changes include: constructing a sidewalk along the eastern side of Queen Street, through the intersection and toward the south to provide safe pedestrian access to and from the middle school; considering creating a “gateway treatment” at the existing island in that intersection in order to improve pedestrian access, reduce travel speeds, and reduce cut-through traffic, as well as to deter through trucks; considering creating a traffic roundabout or rotary there; altering the geometry of the intersection to help reduce travel speeds of vehicles traveling from southbound Queen Street to westbound Glover Avenue, and also considering installing speed bumps, curb extensions, and one-way traffic designations along Queen Street south of Glover Avenue.

The safety study also recommends considering rerouting school bus traffic to alleviate the traffic congestion that is created on the southern section of Queen Street by school buses traveling from Newtown Middle School to Reed Intermediate School at Fairfield Hills.

Resident Lisa Floros of 32 Queen Street endorsed the pedestrian safety study recommendations. Ms Floros said she hopes the measures will be implemented. She said the opening of Reed Intermediate School has increased traffic problems of Queen Street. She called for the installation of sidewalks on the southern section of Queen Street.