Police Commission Raises Issue On Ambulance Garage Access

By Andrew Gorosko

Police Commission members this week asked the Newtown Volunteer Ambulance Association to provide for review an alternate vehicle access plan for the Newtown Volunteer Ambulance Corps’ proposed garage/headquarters at Fairfield Hills.

As part of its June approval for the 14,560-square-foot garage/headquarters building, the Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z) required that the ambulance association receive approval from the Police Commission for the proposed driveway for the project. That driveway would extend from the garage/headquarters site to the south side of Wasserman Way, east of its intersection with Mile Hill Road South.

The Police Commission is the local traffic authority. The applicant also needs traffic approval from state traffic officials because Wasserman Way is State Route 860. Wasserman Way carries about 12,000 vehicles daily.

Police Commission member Brian Budd asked why the ambulance association does not provide access for the garage via the nearby intersection of Wasserman Way and Trades Lane, which has a four-way traffic signal, thus taking advantage of a “signalized” intersection, rather than creating a driveway that has no traffic signal.

Mr Budd added that he opposes the proposal for a new driveway extending from Wasserman Way.

Police Chief Michael Kehoe said that the ambulance corps could employ an electronic device that would control the traffic signal to provide ambulances with the right-of-way at the traffic signal when departing on ambulance calls.

Ambulance corps members, however, pointed out that the direct driveway access to Wasserman Way makes sense for the corps’ needs.

Traffic engineer Michael Galante, representing the association, said that having ambulances travel through the Fairfield Hills core campus to depart on emergency calls via the Trades Lane-Wasserman Way intersection would mean a loss of emergency response time. Also, there are pedestrians afoot at Fairfield Hills, he noted.

Police Commission Chairman Paul Mangiafico asked that the association produce for the October 2 commission meeting an alternate access plan that would describe the use of the Trades Lane-Wasserman Way intersection by departing ambulances, so that commission members could consider both access options in their review of the plans.

The association is planning to construct an approximately $4 million ambulance garage/headquarters at Fairfield Hills to replace its outmoded 3,600-square-foot facility at 77 Main Street.