Unionville Traffic Committee Reports Back With Plans

Traffic in Unionville can at times involve all the people who live in and travel through Unionville and so the effort to find a solution to the traffic has included them, too.

When the Town Council commissioned the Unionville Traffic Subcommittee to find solutions to traffic problems in the village, the group went to the people who live in and use the area. The group of Town Council members, Unionville Village Improvement Association members, Unionville Business Co-Op representatives, residents and the chief of police gathered more than 300 suggestions during the November traffic charrettes.

Over a series of 17 two-hour meetings, the group sorted through the suggestions and discussed how feasible each was, how expensive it would be and whether it would alleviate congestion. Members then narrowed the options to projects with the highest cost-benefit ratio, focusing on what could be accomplished relatively quickly.

“Many of the charrette participants had similar - if not identical - suggestions, some were consistent with the committee’s earlier discussions and many presented new challenges,” said Charlie Keniston, who with John Vibert represented the Town Council on the subcommittee and presented the plans Wednesday.

Projects were organized by intersection and focused on four intersections plus the entrance to Stop & Shop. The intersection where New Britain Avenue meets Railroad Avenue and South Main Street was the most challenging, but maybe the most important, Vibert said.

“One of the things we heard loud and clear… is that this is where the biggest problem is — turning left onto New Britain Avenue and it slows everybody down,” he said. The intersection creates a kind of domino effect, he explained, which also means that fixing it holds promise for traffic flow throughout the village.

The plan for that intersection would be to move the center line on South Main Street over a little to make the south-bound lane wider than north-bound and allow room for cars to get around traffic turning left. The project could be done in less than a year and would cost about $35,000, which would be funded by the state.

“What this is not is a widening of Main Street,” Vibert said, though the group considered that. “It will take the line on South Main Street and move it over slightly… The hope is that just by adding a foot or two you’ll allow a lot more people to get through.”

The group also proposes to increase the length of the left-turn signal for southbound traffic on Main Street. This would allow more turning vehicles to clear out of the intersection. And while the project has a lot of potential to improve traffic flow, Vibert said, more study would be needed to see how the change would affect Mill Street, which would also see its left-turn signal increased to keep the two in sync.

Those projects could be implemented quickly with little cost to the town, but the real fix, Vibert said is a $3.5 million total reconstruction of the intersection, with widening of the road. And that would take approximately five years.

“The concept here is to make South Main Street on either side of the intersection wide enough for left-hand turn signals on both sides onto Railroad Avenue and onto New Britain Avenue without blocking through-traffic,” Vibert explained. New Britain Avenue would also be widened for a right-turn lane.

The project has been on Department of Transportation and Capitol Region Council of Governments lists since the 1990s, Vibert said, so authorities are familiar with the project and with the need. Specifics aren’t known yet, including which buildings on the street would be impacted. McGillicuddy’s and the 7-11 are set back from the road, but the liquor store would most likely be affected, Vibert said.

Also at that intersection and also on the longer-term list is the bike path, which is not related to speeding up traffic but rather to safety.

“This is purely a safety issue. So many people use the bike path and it’s an accident waiting to happen,” Vibert said.

The plan would relocate the bike path to run on the north side, closest to the river, of Railroad Avenue. The current path would be abandoned. The advantage, Vibert said, is that it would bring bikers and pedestrians into a controlled intersection where they could cross safely. The current arrangement calls for bikers to cross at the light, but most don’t.

That plan would require additional land purchases to complete the town-owned area on Railroad Avenue.

The complete list of plans in order of when they would happen is below. The committee will now use feedback from the few dozen residents who attended Wednesday’s meeting to create a final project list to be presented to the Town Council on Tuesday, May 24.

Solution summary: immediate

• right turn on red from Farmington Avenue westbound and from West Avon Road
• increase length of the left-turn signal for eastbound traffic on Farmington Avenue

Solution summary: short term

• relocate center line on South Main Street
• increase the length of the left-turn signal for southbound traffic on South Main Street
• add a right-hand turn lane on Mill Street
• provide a left-turn signal for Lovely Street
• pavement marking modification at Stop & Shop
• adjust time of day for flashing light at Stop & Shop

Solution summary: mid term

• reconstruct New Britain Avenue and South Main Street intersection
• relocate bike path
• review bridge options and determine directions
• reconfigure School Street to be one way
• widen eastbound Main Street

Solution summary: long term

• align Mill Street with entrance to Riversedge Plaza