HVCEO Proposes Newtown

Transportation Improvements

By Andrew Gorosko

The Housatonic Valley Council Of Elected Officials (HVCEO) has refined its set of long-term transportation improvement projects for Newtown.

HVCEO is the regional planning agency, much of whose work involves transportation planning for its ten-town region, which includes Newtown.

Among the items listed on HVCEO’s “current projects list” are the planned replacement of two small bridges to cross brooks that pass beneath Route 34 and Route 25.  The Route 34 bridge project is expected to start this spring.

A broader project listed as “current, but inactive” involves a variety of recommended traffic flow and safety improvements for the hazardous, heavily traveled section of Church Hill Road that lies between the Housatonic Railroad overpass and Interstate 84. The curving, hilly road section contains many street intersections, plus multiple commercial driveways, posing many traffic conflicts caused by turning traffic.

In 2002, the state Department of Transportation (DOT) performed a conceptual study on improving that section of Church Hill Road. DOT has placed the project on its “future needs list,” and the project is currently inactive, according to HVCEO.

The town needs to lobby the state to get such a Church Hill Road project underway, according to HVCEO. The section of Church Hill Road proposed for improvements has the highest accident rate in the ten-town HVCEO planning region. In 2002, DOT estimated that the recommended improvements would cost $3.3 million.

Future Projects

HVCEO also has produced a list of “future” Newtown transportation improvement projects.

While funding to cover costs for such work is not now available, the planning agency drafts detailed plans on desired improvements to expedite such projects when funding does become available.

HVCEO recommends that the section of Hawleyville Road near Exit 9 of Interstate 84 be widened when development in that area warrants such road widening.

In 1997, HVCEO conducted a thorough study of Hawleyville’s development potential, with an eye toward infrastructure improvements that would be needed to support increased development. The land near Exit 9 is among the less densely developed land near interchanges along I-84.

In accord with the 1997 Hawleyville planning study and with a 2000 DOT I-84 improvement plan, the HVCEO also recommends increasing the traffic capacity and improving the alignments of the I-84 Exit 9 eastbound and westbound ramps. That project would provide traffic signals and be coupled with nearby widening of  Hawleyville Road to four lanes.

HVCEO also recommends that the full length of I-84 in Newtown be widened from four lanes to six lanes, and that the interchanges at Exit 10 and Exit 11 also be upgraded in accordance with DOT’s 2000 I-84 plan.

The Police Commission, serving as the town’s traffic authority, reviewed HVCEO’s transportation planning goals for Newtown at a recent session. Commission members underscored the need to improve the interchanges at Exit 11, 10, and 9 of I-84, according to commission records.

The DOT has started work on redesigning the Exit 11 interchange to replace it with a simpler, more efficient interchange layout, intended to enhance traffic flow and improve travel safety. Construction work may start by 2010. (See story on page 1.) 

Among other future transportation projects, HVCEO recommends a series of improvements for intersections along South Main Street. That work would be keyed to safety and traffic-capacity improvements at South Main Street’s intersections with Swamp Road, Botsford Hill Road, Cold Spring Road, Pecks Lane South, Pecks Lane North, Elm Drive South, Elm Drive North, Borough Lane, and at the intersection of South Main Street, Sugar Street, Main Street, and Glover Avenue.

For the Route 34 area in Sandy Hook, the HVCEO recommends that turning lanes and other traffic-capacity improvements be added to improve motorist access from Route 34 to I-84. The planning agency also recommends safety improvements for the hazardous intersection of Route 34 and Pole Bridge Road.

For Route 302, HVCEO recommends that traffic safety and signage improvements be made near the intersection of Route 302 and Hattertown Road in Dodgingtown.

In Sandy Hook Center, the regional planning agency endorses the Sandy Hook Center Streetscape Project, which involves a series of measures planned to beautify the compact business district. The planning agency also recommends making geometric improvements to the hazardous, poor-visibility intersection of Church Hill Road, Washington Avenue, Riverside Road, and Glen Road in Sandy Hook Center to improve travel safety.

HVCEO endorses implementing the Queen Street Pedestrian Safety Plan, which calls for a range of pedestrian-oriented safety improvements  in the heavily traveled area near two public schools.

Also, the regional planning agency supports two public transit planning goals for Newtown. They involve extending fixed-route HART bus service to Newtown, and creating a new, more efficient regional version of the SweetHART bus service.