Big changes may come to Whitney Avenue
Big changes may be coming to Whitney Avenue.
The state Department of Transportation will hold a Road Diet public information session this month on a proposal to reconfigure Route 10, also known as Whitney Avenue, from four lanes to three lanes in Mount Carmel.
A road diet is a technique for designing roadway corridors with a reduced number or effective width of vehicular travel lanes to accommodate more types of users safely. This treatment cannot be used for all locations, but when applied appropriately is an effective tool for accommodating all users, according to a Complete Streets report executive summary posted on the state website.
Theres a state proposal to adjust Route 10 with the intended goal of improving safety and travel by creating a focused middle turning lane for going into businesses and onto side roads, Mayor Curt Balzano Leng said.
The change is proposed for the section of Whitney Avenue from School Street, which is located one block from Memorial Town Hall and the Whitney/Dixwell Avenue intersection, down to Mount Carmel Avenue at Quinnipiac College.
It was determined that the section of Route 10 between School Street and the Route 40 Interchange has the potential to be converted from a four-lane roadway to a three-lane roadway consisting of two through lanes, one in each direction, and a center two-way left turn lane, according to a statement released this week by Lengs office. The reduction of lanes allows the roadway cross section to be reallocated for the dedicated center left-turn lane.
The proposal comes as the Department of Transportation plans to pave that section of the road this summer.
Patrick Zapatka, a transportation planner at the state Department of Transportation, said Road Diets work best when there are certain conditions present on the road.
There are a few things to consider when we do a road diet, Zapatka said. If we are going to go through with something like that, we would check out what is the average daily traffic, so we would get traffic volumes on Route 10. The amount of cars that are on that roadway could be used as a determining factor whether it would make a good candidate for a road diet to happen there.
In addition to traffic volume, other things are examined, including the frequency of accidents on the road, he said.
Another thing we look at is crash data are there a lot of crashes there, property damage, are there fatalities or serious injuries, Zapatka said. The city may propose it, and if it fits those type of criteria, I think it would be a fantastic candidate for a road diet.
There are many possibilities when considering the implementation of road diets, Zapatka said. Road diets are really good because it gives us the opportunity to implement bicycle lanes, wider shoulders and the possibility of pedestrian amenities such as sidewalks or crosswalks, he said.
Police Chief Thomas Wydra said he believes the change would make the road safer, and with the planned paving, now is the time to investigate it.
Its certainly an idea worth exploring, and this is the moment to consider it when the road is being resurfaced and the options are available to us in terms of the line painting that will be applied, Wydra said. Thats the moment when you consider any other option that can be taken advantage of that reduces accidents and makes the road safer.
Its a big change, but it is something residents should look into before forming an opinion, Wydra said. The DOT has provided us with an optional plan that is different from what we have been used to in that section for a long time, and I think its something that we should seriously consider, he said. It would likely cause delays at certain times, but what I think it would do for sure is make the roadway safer. I think safety prevails over convenience.
The meeting will be held at 6 p.m. April 19 in the council chambers at Memorial Town Hall.
The police chief and I discussed this and we organized a public input and discussion session to learn more about the idea, Leng said.
Mount Carmel resident Erika Nealon drives the section of the road every day. She said shes skeptical of the plans.
At rush hour theres so much traffic, and I think this will make it worse, she said. She hasnt noticed any problems with cars turning left, she said, especially because there are left turn lanes at most of the traffic lights on the road.
I dont understand why they want to do this, she said. Leave it the way it is.
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