High Accident Rate—

Police Panel Backs Castle Hill Road Improvements

By Andrew Gorosko

Police Commission members are recommending that the town pursue state grant money to improve a hazardous local road section where many accidents occur, especially during slippery conditions.

After discussion at an April 1 session, Police Commission members recommended seeking a state grant for physical improvements to the section of Castle Hill Road, near King Street. The area has been the scene of many motor vehicle accidents, especially in wet, slippery, and snowy conditions, when vehicles go out of control and drive off Castle Hill Road there.

In such conditions, motorists descending the steep eastbound Castle Hill Road encounter a very sharp curve to the right near King Street and have difficulty staying on the pavement, sometimes leaving the road and crashing into adjacent objects.

Police Commission members are recommending that the town seek up to $240,00 in funding in the competitive state Department of Transportation (DOT) grant program known as the “Local Road Accident Reduction Program.”

Police Chief Michael Kehoe told Police Commission members that Castle Hill Road near King Street needs physical improvements to cut the high accident rate there.

The state grant program would provide the town with a good opportunity to correct the problem, said commission member Bruce Walczak.

In seeking the grant, the town would need to substantiate the high accident rate there with accident statistics, Chief Kehoe said.

Commission Chairman Carol Mattegat said the four-way intersection of Church Hill Road, Washington Avenue, Riverside Road, and Glen Road in Sandy Hook Center is an intersection that is dangerous and needs improvement.

But Chief Kehoe said that because that intersection contains state roads, it would not be eligible for improvements under the DOT’s local road grant program.

Commission member Duane Giannini suggested that a list be compiled describing the top five local roads with high accident rates.

The Housatonic Valley Council of Elected Officials (HVCEO), which is the regional transportation planning agency, would help the town in applying for a road improvement grant, based on accident statistics that would be provided by the town.

Noting that a June 13 deadline is approaching for seeking the road grant money, Mr Walczak said, “We’re almost forced to pick a [road improvement] project tonight.”

Chief Kehoe said the first selectman would decide the specific road improvement project for which the town would seek grant money. That decision would be reviewed by the selectmen.

Chief Kehoe said April 2 that he would discuss with town officials the prospects for receiving state grant funds for a Castle Hill Road improvement project.

After reviewing various proposed road improvement projects from its ten member towns on June 20, the HVCEO would submit the top three road improvement proposals to the DOT for its consideration.