Residents Develop New Vision For Route 25

By: Marla Hoffman, Monroe Courier

November 30, 2009

State Rep. DebraLee Hovey and state Sen. Dan Debicella will head back to Hartford for more talks with state transportation officials after meeting with residents at Town Hall Monday to discuss the future of Route 25.

The two legislators listened to residents’ comments on economic development, traffic and preservation of community character along the state highway, in an effort to determine how to find a balance between them.

The next step, they said, is to bring the residents’ ideas and concerns to the state Department of Transportation so a common vision for the future of Route 25 can be reached.

“The state is willing to work with the community on what the community wants to do,” said Hovey. “They are not interested in overruling what the town wants.”

The DOT recently released engineering plans for Route 25 that include the addition of turning lanes, adjustments to traffic lights and other measures to increase traffic flow. The plans have not yet been funded, they said.

But with the plans in tow, Hovey said, “Hopefully Route 25 will now be made a priority.”

They urged residents to stay involved as the plans proceed.

“We’re here to listen to what you want us to bring to the DOT,” Debicella said. “It’s important there is communication and a similar vision going forward. The one thing we can help with is getting people on the same page.”

Planning & Zoning Commissioner Patrick O’Hara suggested approaching the DOT with a common vision with other towns along Route 25. Several Newtown residents were present at the meeting.

“It’s important we have a similar idea of what we should be doing on that road,” Hovey agreed.

O’Hara urged more communication between town officials and DOT representatives. “If the DOT has a different vision than us, they need to say it,” he said.

The biggest complaint was something Hovey and Debicella said they could address: Synchronization of the traffic lights. Several residents said the lights hold up the flow of traffic.

Many residents voiced frustration over intersections with no turning lanes or left turn traffic arrows.

Hovey asked residents with specific places in mind for better signage or traffic signals to come forward.

Planning & Zoning Commissioner Joel Leneker suggested adding public transportation along Route 25.

“It’s an option that could get some cars off the road,” he said.

A bus system might bring commuters to the train station and shoppers and other residents up and down Route 25. One resident suggested looking at the bus that goes to McDonalds on Route 111 to see “if people are using it.”

Hovey and Debicella heard complaints about wear and tear on the roadway due to heavy traffic flow, as well as interest in the possible effects of widening it in certain places.

Debicella said discussion has taken place about widening the roadway, but that it might create more problems. For example, if the state made it two lanes in one area to ease traffic, there could then be a problem when the road changed back to one lane.

“There’s got to be more discussion before that happens,” said Debicella. “We’ve got to determine what that would do and how it would affect traffic.”

The engineering plans developed by the DOT include several places where turning lanes would be added. But Planning & Zoning Commissioner Rick Zini expressed concern over the plans, which were initially developed in 2001.

“I’m not sure the DOT can make good decisions based on a nearly 10-year-old-plan,” he said. “The state’s plans are not anywhere near ready to execute.”

Zini said that the consulting firm the town hired to help with the Plan of Conservation and Development pointed out discrepancies between what the town wants and the state’s plan. Although town officials have sometimes had trouble communicating with the DOT in the past, some ideas are “doable” in the DOT’s plans for Route 25, he said.

“One thing we have got to do is have the DOT sit down with the town planning people to synch up the plans for the road,” said Debicella.

The forum also covered overall planning for Route 25, including where parking lots should be located and what type of buildings the town wants to see built along the state highway.

“This is all a part of the planning process,” said Hovey.