Date: Fri 15-Nov-1996

Publication: Bee

Author: STEVEB

Quick Words:

traffic-roads-statistics

Full Text:

Traffic Patterns Show That Newtown Is A Crossroads

B Y S TEVE B IGHAM

The number of people living in Newtown is about 22,000, but the number of

people and cars passing through its borders daily far exceeds that number.

According to a 1995 study by the state's Department of Transportation, an

average of nearly 200,000 vehicles travel the roadways within Newtown's

borders on a given day.

The DOT studied only those roads within the state's maintained highway

network. In Newtown, they include, Interstate 84 and routes 302, 25, 34 and 6.

According to the study, an average of more than 55,000 cars, in both

directions, travel along Interstate 84 through Newtown each day.

As Jonathan Chew, the director of the Housatonic Valley of Elected Officials,

points out, that traffic usually does not impact the town. However, when a

traffic jam occurs on the highway, that traffic spills onto Route 6 and Church

Hill Road, causing long back-ups at traffic lights and stop signs.

On average, about 8,000 cars travel along Route 34 daily between Sandy Hook

center and the Newtown/Monroe town line.

As many as 18,000 vehicles travel on Route 25 between the Monroe/Newtown

border and the intersection of Route 302. Traffic begins to drop off from the

flagpole up the exit 9 and into Brookfield with an average of some 9,500 cars

traveling that stretch of road.

For years, the DOT considered extending the Route 25 bypass highway from

Trumbull (where it currently ends) to I-84 near exit 11 as a way to cut down

on traffic, but, as Mr Chew explained, the DOT was hit with budget cuts and

the plan never went through. Plus, he said, many in Newtown opposed the plan,

fearing decreased property values and damage to the town's aquifer.

Cars traveling along Route 302 at the Bethel/Newtown border to its

intersection with Route 25 (South Main Street) number about 7,000 per day.

Hundreds of other vehicles make their daily commutes along arterial roads such

as Hattertown Road, Currituck Road, Queen Street, Mile Hill Road and Toddy

Hill Road.

First Selectman Bob Cascella sees Newtown as a crossroads for commuters

traveling to surrounding cities and uses that when marketing the town for

economic development.

"We're convenient to Hartford, Danbury, the rails, Route 84. We're basically

30 minutes away from Bridgeport, Danbury and Waterbury," he said.

Where Newtown Commutes

The 1990 census showed Newtown residents' commuting practices to be unique

because of the town's large geographic size. What is acceptable to the average

person as a normal length for a trip to work keeps people within Newtown's

borders. More work trips are made be the town's employed residents (29

percent) to sites in Newtown than to any other single location. But that

number used to be much higher (38 percent in 1980), indicating how much

Newtown has changed in recent years.

According to the census, 20 percent of the 10,492 employable residents travel

to Danbury, 7 percent head to New York State, and 5 percent go to Bridgeport.

About 3 percent head to Norwalk, 2« percent go to Stamford, while a total of

about 7« percent work in Bethel, Stratford and Fairfield.