Police Commission Speeding Crackdown Urged

By Andrew Gorosko

Police Commission members are reviewing aspects of the Queen Street Area Traffic Improvement Plan, a draft traffic planning document that recommends making about 40 physical changes in the town center to better manage traffic flow during the coming 20 years.

Police Commission members, who serve as the local traffic authority, discussed aspects of the traffic plan at a March 6 session, and will resume their discussion on April 3.

The 29-page traffic plan was produced by Vollmer Associates, LLP, of Hamden. The consultants investigated traffic problems on 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.

In December, the Borough Board of Burgesses held a heavily attended discussion session on the traffic plan. The burgesses have issued a critique of the traffic plan, describing the many aspects of the plan which they dislike, plus the aspects of it that they favor.

Resident Bruce Walczak of 12 Glover Avenue told Police Commission members that to motivate the driving public to slow down, the town should mount a publicity campaign with the goal of reducing travel speeds.

“Slow Down in Newtown” should be the motto of the campaign, Mr Walczak urged. Mr Walczak was a member of an advisory panel that guided the traffic consultants’ planning.

A publicity campaign would attract public support, he said, adding that bumper stickers could be employed to stress the need for reduced travel speeds.

Police Commission Chairman Carol Mattegat endorsed the idea of such a publicity campaign to cut travel speeds.

“It’s a community problem…We really need to ‘think outside the box’ on these matters,” said Police Chief Michael Kehoe.

“We have to do something,” said Ms Mattegat, noting the extent of the local speeding problem.

Resident Paul Morris of 15 Glover Avenue said that using automatic cameras to photograph motor vehicle violations would be an effective deterrent to violations.

Chief Kehoe said that such an automatic photography system would need to be approved by state legislators before it could be employed locally.

Commission member Gerald Finnegan recommended that Mr Morris pursue the issue with Sate Representative Julia Wasserman.

Mr Walczak urged that Police Commission members carefully review the burgesses’ recent critique of the town center traffic plan.

Similarly, Senior Burgess James Gaston, who was one of the critique’s authors, asked that commission members contact him if they have questions about the burgesses’ critique.

Resident Laura Lerman of 55 Main Street pointed out that two pedestrians have died on Main Street due to traffic accidents during the 20 years that she has lived there. The more traffic that flows on Main Street, the more likely it is that pedestrians will die due to traffic accidents, she said.

Mr Finnegan pointed out that some of the traffic volume on local roads stems from motorists seeking to avoid traveling on Interstate 84.

Mr Walczak urged the Police Commission to reconsider its recommendation that school bus drivers use Glover Avenue instead of Queen Street when traveling from Newtown Middle School to Reed Intermediate School.

Chief Kehoe explained that the recommendation came after police noticed that some school bus drivers were unsafely stopping in traffic on Mile Hill Road to allow school bus drivers to turn left from southbound Queen Street onto eastbound Mile Hill Road. The police chief noted that new traffic signals at Glover Avenue’s intersection with South Main Street, Sugar Street, and Main Street, now allow school buses to safely make protected left turns from Glover Avenue onto South Main Street.

Having school buses make protected left turns from Glover Avenue to South Main Street is safer than having school buses turn left from Queen Street onto Mile Hill Road, he said. Queen Street motorists have a stop sign at that road’s intersection with Mile Hill Road.

Mr Walczak urged that school bus drivers be ticketed by police when they violate motor vehicle laws.

Flagpole Intersection

In their traffic plan critique, the burgesses oppose a proposal to modify the traffic intersection at the Main Street flagpole.

Chief Kehoe said that the burgesses’ alternate plan for flagpole traffic control, which would involve having a police officer direct traffic there, would be unworkable for practical reasons.

Placing a police officer at the flagpole for traffic control at peak traffic periods would put operational strains on the police department and would be expensive, he said.

Such a situation could become more of a hazard than a helpful action, he said. It would be difficult for one police officer to effectively control all traffic flowing through a five-legged intersection, such as the flagpole intersection, during peak traffic periods, he said.

Also, Chief Kehoe disagreed with the burgesses’ urging that police employ a “zero tolerance” traffic enforcement approach for motor vehicle violations.

Such an enforcement approach would rob police officers of their sanctioned discretion in enforcing motor vehicle laws, the police chief said.

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

Funding would come from local, state, federal, and private sources. 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.