The Connecticut Department of Transportation’s plan to
remove the traffic signals from Route 9 in Middletown seems likely to go
forward in some fashion, based on the public meeting held on July 26, 2016 and
the subsequent comment period. There is
broad, enthusiastic support for the main goal from many Middletown residents
and elected officials, including Mayor Dan Drew. The pollution, accidents,
wasted time, and constant irritation caused by the lights all add up to
something now deemed intolerable, so the wheels of state government are
starting to move. To view the project on-line, go to www.ct.gov/dot and click on the link “Rte 9
Middletown Projects” on the left side of the home page.
The specific proposal does, of course, raise concerns, as
any project of this scale would. The
most often-expressed concern on July 26 was that increased traffic on Main
Street north of Washington Street will make peak congestion even worse. The
second most-voiced concern was that the elevated southbound highway near
Washington Street will block views toward the river and aggravate the existing
visual and psychological barrier between the downtown and the riverfront, the
same barrier that we have been decrying and seeking ways to mitigate for the
last several decades.
Principal Engineer William Britnell explained that CT DOT has
received many comments and suggestions that are still under review. In
particular, his team is considering additional improvements to the area of Main
Street., Grand Street, and Rapallo Avenue to further improve traffic flow, as
well as how to avoid the highway elevation that will form a 23-foot wall facing
deKoven Drive at Washington St. The fate of the proposed roundabout at
Washington Street and deKoven Drive is still in question. The department seems convinced it would move
traffic more efficiently and be safer for bicycles and pedestrians, but DOT also
sees this feature as somewhat incidental to the project as a whole. Mr.
Britnell predicts that sometime this fall the department will be ready to share
the results of their studies and deliberations – either in the form of a
revised proposal or a confirmed commitment to something close to the original
version.
Presuming that the concept remains substantially intact, the
timeline for the project includes a series of steps to alleviate congestion on
Main Street and on Route 9 even before the final major construction takes place.
During the 2017 construction season, the CT DOT will install
the proposed crosswalk bump-outs that, it says, will significantly improve the function
of downtown streets and intersections prior to the changes to Route 9 itself.
Congestion will be alleviated, the theory goes, because the bump-outs will
allow for decreased signal time for pedestrian crossings and lengthened
intervals for the movement of vehicles.
With the bump-outs, pedestrians will be safer and feel safer because the
sight lines at crossings will no longer be obstructed by parked cars.
In 2018, two Route 9 exit turns (northbound onto Hartford
Avenue and southbound onto Washington Street) will be eliminated, providing
some relief to Route 9 congestion and allowing the public to adapt to the exit
changes that are included in the final plan.
In 2019, a double lane northbound
exit onto Washington Street will be built to further reduce congestion on Route
9 southbound until the underpasses are built.
The elevated lanes on Route 9
southbound at Hartford Avenue and Washington Street and their associated
underpasses are envisioned to be constructed in 2020-21, allowing for the
complete removal of the traffic signals.
Widening the Route 17 northbound
on-ramp, in order to eliminate the dangerous stop sign that causes so many collisions at that location, has now been postponed until 2022 because the
Union Street bridge will be completely replaced.
Those who have paid close attention to the issue of Route 9
traffic congestion and access in and out of Middletown are aware of many other
visions and solutions for the highway and its problems. From what I can discern,
those other proposals involving tunnels, lowered road surfaces, fly-overs,
boulevards, and such have been declared too expensive and completely out of the
question, at least for this period of our history.
What we need to do now is to make this project
the best it can be. Our communal vigilance includes making sure that the City
of Middletown follows through on funding its part of the pedestrian walkway
from Riverside Plaza to Route 9, from where it will be funded by the state to cross
over the highway to Harbor Park. This
walkway is one way of mitigating or compensating for the obstruction of that 23-foot
wall facing deKoven Drive, if that additional obstruction to our relationship
to the river can’t be avoided.
In short, the pressure of all those traffic jams has mounted
to become a regional splitting headache.
Whether you like it or not, change is coming to Route 9, and we are
beginning to see its outlines.
John C. Hall is
Executive Director of the Jonah Center for Earth and Art, a nonprofit
organization based in Middletown that advocates for pedestrian- and
bicycle-friendly streets.
5 comments:
"Widening the Route 17 northbound on-ramp, in order to eliminate the dangerous stop sign that causes so many collisions at that location,..."
The stop sign is not dangerous. The danger is from speeding cars on RT 9. The speed limit at that point is 45mph. Most traffic is going 65mph or above. Someone stopped at the sign looks for traffic and seeing none starts entering the highway only to have some idiot come flying over the rise. He stops and then gets rear ended. Or he doesn't stop and gets rear ended by the speeding idiot.
Same with the lights. The speed limit approaching the lights is 45mph. I travel 45mph and cars fly by.
Everybody should just SLOW DOWN!
The article states:
In 2019, a double lane northbound exit onto Washington Street will be built to further reduce congestion on Route 9 southbound until the underpasses are built.
Please see: http://www.ct.gov/dot/cwp/view.asp?a=4109&q=582016
Where is there a double lane northbound exit onto Washington St? (Double in length?)
I am stunned at this article, both in the words you use and your attitude that "it's just going to happen, so let's just lay down and accept what they do to us." Many of us who attended have an entirely different viewpoint from you.
The idea that it is OK to block the view of the river is unacceptable. Middletown's asset is the connection to the river, and anything that takes away the view would be a direct assault on the city's economy.
The proposal made in July was something that someone drew quickly on "a Saturday night," it was revealed. The true consequences of each decision were not fleshed out, but you and the DOT are talking about them as though they were. Not only are the main ideas bad, many parts of the proposal are unnecessary (list below).
RT 9 should not be an experiment with hilled roundabouts - let the DOT do that somewhere else in the countryside, not in Middletown between our downtown and the river. Get the traffic through the downtown section with the least complications possible. The West Side Highway in NYC and other urban highways accommodate cross travel by having exits go under the highway. You can get on and off by going under the highway. It's not rocket science.
I would like to see an elegant solution, not a forced one like this. One problem is that only the DOT's being paid to look at this, no one else. There is no one representing the city, meaning the physical city (not political) in this current solution. Middletown cannot rely on people who move cars fast thru places to think about Middletown the way it needs to be thought about - as a genuine place with streets that foster commerce and social interaction.
Not needed:
The "bowtie" at Route 17 and Main Street Extension - not enough traffic and just plain weird.
Bump-outs on Main Street - already turned down in previous discussions. Besides, the DOT should not be making Main Street -retail economy - decisions.
The over-the-highway-walkway - found unnecessary in the 2013 riverfront study - two connections are less than 200' away in both directions.
Forget the bump-outs on Main Street. Middletown has a unique wide open Main St. - Let's keep it that way!
Add the bump-outs and create another nightmare for trucks trying to turn (like the brilliant idea when High Street was changed)
I agree with the previous post: the bump outs on High Street were a brilliant idea. Trucks shouldn't be driving down High Street. A big question mark about this Route 9 proposal is the effect it will have on traffic elsewhere in town, including on High Street. It's a question the engineers seem reluctant to address.
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