Queen Street Area Traffic Problems

Identified On Walking Tour

By Andrew Gorosko

Buttoning tight their windbreakers on a blustery wintry day, a group of about 20 residents and town officials toured sections of Queen Street and Glover Avenue late on the afternoon of March 16, noting the particular traffic and pedestrian problems in the heavily traveled traffic corridor in the town center.

The field visit conducted by transportation consultants for Vollmer Associates, LLP, of Hamden was intended to allow residents and town officials to directly show the consultants the vehicular and pedestrian problems present in the area.

Vollmer has been gathering technical information from town officials in seeking to identify measures that would improve traffic flow along the full length of Queen Street and other roadways near the town center as part of the ongoing Queen Street Area Traffic Study.

David Hannon, deputy director of the Housatonic Valley Council of Elected Officials (HVCEO), said this week that the walking tour allowed people to directly illustrate specific travel problems on Queen Street and Glover Avenue.

“It was important to hear from the residents,” Mr Hannon said. Twenty people participating in the tour amounted to a “terrific turnout,” he said.

HVCEO is the regional transportation planning agency, which is overseeing the $49,000 study that is jointly funded by HVCEO and the town.

The traffic study addresses what measures could be taken to improve traffic flow in the Queen Street area during the coming 20 years. The traffic study will produce a spectrum of recommendations, ranging from small specific changes that could be made soon, to broader long-range changes that could be made farther into the future.

The traffic study is focusing on traffic safety, vehicle access, and traffic volume issues. The traffic study will incorporate information from a 2003 traffic study that addressed pedestrian safety on the congested 1,300-foot-long section of Queen Street lying between Church Hill Road and Glover Avenue.

Kermit Hua, a transportation engineer for Vollmer, said this week that tour participants raised a number of issues that will be addressed in the traffic study.

The firm has conducted traffic counts that will be presented as part of its study, he said. A past study indicated that Queen Street carries approximately 6,000 vehicles daily.

While on the tour, Mr Hua took notes as residents and town officials pointed out traffic problems along the northern section of Queen Street and the eastern section of Glover Avenue.

During the past several years, Queen Street residents often have attended Police Commission meetings in seeking to resolve their concerns about the volume, speed, and noise of traffic along the congested road. The Police Commission is the local traffic authority.

The mile-long, north-south Queen Street links Church Hill Road to Mile Hill Road. The northern section of Queen Street contains a retail district and Newtown Middle School. The southern section of the road is residential.

The possible use of “traffic calming” devices, such as speed bumps and curb extensions, will be reviewed in traffic study.

Converting the existing intersection of Queen Street and Glover Avenue into a conventional “T-shaped” intersection, or alternately converting it into a traffic roundabout or rotary, is under consideration. The existing triangular intersection of those roads contains a traffic island.

Also, the consultants are studying whether improving the intersection at the Main Street flagpole would lessen Queen Street traffic flow. Such improvements could include installing traffic signals at the flagpole, or constructing a traffic roundabout around which vehicles would flow without first stopping, in order to facilitate travel in that area.

The consultants plan to estimate the traffic effects of potentially linking Commerce Road to Wasserman Way to create an alternate local north-south traffic route. Such a new road would extend southward from the western side Commerce Road in an area that is planned for future industrial development. Such a new north-south route is viewed as a possible way to relieve traffic pressure on the north-south Queen Street.

The traffic consultants plan to hold a public session in late April at Newtown Middle School to field public comments for the traffic study.

In their final report due in late June, the consultants will provide conceptual plans for improving traffic flow on Queen Street and nearby roads, as well as providing cost estimates for such work.