SWRPA solicits community input on Route 1 shortcomings

The South Western Regional Planning Agency kicked off its grassroots effort to involve Darienites in a traffic, transportation and safety analysis of Route 1 with an open house at Darien Town Hall last Thursday.

SWRPA's Route 1 Corridor Study is an estimated $375,000 analysis of a 2.3-mile stretch of the Boston Post Road from Nearwater Lane to Old Kings Highway North in downtown Darien. In partnership with the Town of Darien and the Connecticut Department of Transportation, the SWRPA study will investigate the possibility of bypassing downtown traffic congestion through use of nearby roadways like Old Kings Highway South, West Avenue and Noroton Avenue.

"Everybody needs to have an opportunity to learn about it, get comfortable with it [and] voice their opinions about it," said Project Manager and SWRPA Senior Regional Transportation Coordinator Sue Prosi.

Historic and real-time data collection of traffic, parking, motor vehicle accidents and environmental impact issues on the state highway, coupled with community input, will determine a palate of solutions to be vetted by the public, Prosi said.

The Darien Police Department is contributing traffic and accident data to the study, according to Lt. Don Alexander.

"The main problem now is that when I-95 gets backed up, people get off on the Post Road as a shortcut alternative to get to Stamford or Greenwich or Darien or wherever they're going and all of a sudden now we have triple the number of cars on the road," Alexander said. "They're very frustrated already because they're not getting to where they want to go to as quickly as they want to get there and that does contribute to accidents and traffic violations.

"We're looking at things like pedestrian crossings and if there are pedestrian lights that aren't functioning correctly or issues like what would happen if we moved more parking to another side of the street or if we started a shuttle to the train station. At this point, everything is on the table."

Public input is key to the study's success, according to Casey Haram of Clough Harbour and Associates, a Rocky Hill-based consulting company.

"We can run the traffic numbers and note that there are certain intersections that are problematic, we can see that the lanes are narrow or there could be use for additional parking, but we want to know what people who live and work here see everyday and what their problems with the road are," Haram said. "We want to hear from the people who use the road everyday because they have that extra level of understanding that sometimes we can't make up for."

SWRPA plans to incorporate public opinion in a stakeholders survey and three community planning workshops to assess highway conditions, develop solutions and draft a strategy, according to CHA consultant Jeff Parker.

"We're trying to get the complete picture of where the issues are, number one, and how we can come up with solutions to fix them," Parker said.

The Connecticut DOT will fund about 80 percent of the approximately $375,000 study price tag, according to DOT Transportation Supervising Planner David Head. SWRMPA will cover any remaining cost, he said.

SWRPA is simultaneously conducting a separate Route 1 study in Stamford and Greenwich.

The Darien Route 1 Corridor Study is slated for completion in mid-2011.