A traffic engineering firm is recommending a range of changes at the Main Street flagpole intersection, including installing traffic signals, altering the geometry of the junction, and modifying some traffic flow patterns, to reduce the accident rate in the congested area.

Traffic engineer Michael Galante, executive vice president of Frederick P. Clark Associates, Inc, of Fairfield, presented on the matter to Police Commission members at a January 5 meeting. The Police Commission is the local traffic authority, serving the town and the borough.a detailed draft study

The commission hired the firm several months ago for $17,900 to study improving the problematic intersection.

The five-legged intersection of Main Street (US Route 6/State Route 25), Church Hill Road (US Route 6), and West Street has a 100-foot-tall flagpole as its centerpiece. The flagpole, which is not shielded by barriers, effectively serves as the hub of a traffic rotary. Access to the intersection is controlled by stop signs on Church Hill Road and West Street.

It is unusual for such a structure without barriers to be located in the middle of a heavily traveled intersection.

The incidence of traffic accidents at the flagpole intersection has been an emotional issue over the years. People seeking to cut traffic accidents at the intersection have urged that changes be made for the sake of public safety. People seeking to protect the aesthetics of the area say that making changes at the intersection would damage the historical appearance of the area and also create secondary traffic problems nearby.

 In a letter to Police Commission Chairman Joel Faxon, Mr Galante wrote that the various alternatives studied for improving safety at the intersection are all based on keeping the flagpole at its current location.

Recommendations

In its report the Police Commission, Clark Associates recommends that a long, narrow raised center median be installed on Main Street’s southbound approach to the flagpole. Also, Clark recommends that the Church Hill Road approach to the intersection be shifted southward within the state’s right-of-way, so that the road alignment for left-turn movements from westbound Church Hill Road to southbound Main Street would no longer require motorists to drive around the flagpole to make that left turn.

Also, Clark recommends that the northerly leg of West Street be closed to traffic and that the southerly leg of West Street carry two-way traffic. Such a change would reduce turning-movement conflicts at the intersection, according to Clark. Currently, West Street forks around Newtown Meeting House at the intersection, with westbound traffic exiting Main Street traveling on the northerly leg of West Street and eastbound traffic entering Main Street traveling on the southerly leg of West Street.

The flagpole intersection meets the state Department of Transportation (DOT) criteria for traffic signal installation, according to Clark.

If it is determined that installing traffic signals at the intersection is not appropriate, the various recommended geometric changes for the intersection would still be appropriate, resulting in the intersection having improved traffic safety and reduced congestion, according to Clark.

The proposed geometric changes would result in the elimination of certain perpendicular parking on the west side of Main Street near the intersection, according to the traffic study.

Presentation

In a presentation of the draft traffic study at the January 5 session, Mr Galante said, “[Clark] collected a lot of data, and looked at that data in great detail.”

The firm reviewed multiple alternatives in formulating its recommendations to the commission, he said.

Mr Galante noted that because Main Street and Church Hill Roads are state roads, “It’s the state’s final decision” in terms of whether any changes are made at the intersection.

The traffic engineer stressed that the DOT pays attention to municipalities’ views concerning state roads within those municipalities.

The heavily traveled Main Street carries about 25,000 vehicles daily, Mr Galante said. Main Street and Church Hill Road near the flagpole intersection carry about 1,600 vehicles during the daily peak travel hours, he said.

During a six-year period, 94 accidents occurred at the flagpole intersection, of which 20 accidents involved vehicles striking the flagpole, he said.

In its review of traffic problems, Clark considered the creation of a roundabout at the intersection, Mr Galante said. While such a roundabout would fit within the state’s right-of-way in that area, large trucks are too big to use such a traffic device, he said.

“It’s a unique intersection,” Mr Galante said, said, adding that, at times, truckers are unsure of how to navigate it.

Mr Galante displayed two illustrations showing how traffic signals could be positioned at the flagpole intersection, where multiple travel lanes would be created for safety.

 One illustration depicts traffic signals hung from cables suspended between poles. The other illustration shows signals positioned on long horizontal arms extending from poles.

The many recommendations made in the draft traffic report are subject to revision, Mr Galante noted.

Comments

Police Commission member Brian Budd said that making some type of safety improvements at the flagpole intersection would be in the town’s best interest. The motoring public and pedestrians need to be protected, he said.

“The area is growing. The businesses are growing,” he said, adding that the commission would consider Clark’s recommendations.

Mr Faxon said the intersection is currently set up as if it were the 1800s. While the beauty of the area is worth preserving, it is 2016, he added.

The Police Commission cannot allow aesthetics to trump public safety, he said.

Paul Mangiafico of 15 Kent Road, who was the Police Commission’s chairman when the agency hired Clark to perform the traffic study, told commission members, “The [traffic] problem has been going on for many, many, many, many years.”

Mr Mangiafico urged the commission to carefully review the report and consider its findings. If commission members decide that it is not worth pursuing any changes at the intersection, they should publicly say so, he said.

“The situation is so bad… Something needs to be done,” Mr Mangiafico said. He noted that new businesses and facilities in the area will result in added traffic.

Don Studley, representing Newtown Meeting House, told Police Commission members, “We absolutely need parking somewhere,” in stressing the need for that facility to have designated parking spaces. The meeting house has some perpendicular parking spaces in front of the building on Main Street.

Laura Lerman of 55 Main Street said that if traffic signals are installed at the flagpole intersection, she will hear the sound of big trucks’ brakes. Also, traffic conditions would then make it difficult for her to exit her driveway, she said.

Alex Rios of 4 Tilson Lane suggested that the flagpole be moved to some other location to resolve the traffic problems at the intersection.

The flagpole, however, is a protected structure in view of its state designation as a landmark.

Charles Zukowski of 4 Cornfield Ridge Road suggested that to alleviate traffic pressure at the flagpole intersection, the town create an alternate travel route by extending Commerce Road southward to Wasserman Way.

Borough Warden James Gaston, Sr, of 18 Main Street, noted that if Church Hill Road near the flagpole were to be shifted southward, it would require excavating a steep embankment near Trinity Episcopal Church to create space for the relocated roadway.

There would be significant costs involved in such a roadway realignment project, he said, in asking who would cover such costs.

Also, eliminating any planned parking spaces for the planned Dere Street restaurant at 33 Main Street is not acceptable, Mr Gaston said.

Mr Gaston predicted that the presence of traffic signals at the flagpole intersection would create long lines of traffic on both northbound and southbound Main Street leading to the flagpole.

“You basically are destroying Main Street” if traffic signals are installed, he said.

“This area is in a historic district,” he stressed.

 The presence of traffic signals would eliminate the aesthetic aspect of the area, he said.

Mr Gaston said that crosswalks at the flagpole intersection need to be illuminated for safety reasons.

Mr Gaston also questioned a police statistical report which states that from 2012 through 2014, there were 55 collisions at the flagpole intersection, making the location with the second-highest accident rate in town.

Mr Gaston said he has calculated that there were 40 accidents there during that period, not 55 collisions.

Some residents at the Police Commission session said there should be one or two police officers stationed at the flagpole intersection during peak traffic periods to direct traffic.

Mr Faxon said of the voluminous traffic report, “There’s a lot of material we have to digest.” Police Commission members will be reviewing the document, he said.

Commission members are expected to discuss the topic at upcoming sessions.