Unionville Traffic Projects to Move Forward

The Town Council unanimously approved the short-term recommendations of the Unionville Traffic Committee Tuesday night — plans the committee said would immediately help relieve congestion in the village at almost no cost to the town.

The committee was commissioned by the council about a year ago to solicit and evaluate public input and come up with a list of traffic solutions. The body, made up of representatives from the Unionville Village Improvement Association, the Unionville Business Cooperative, the Town Council and village residents, met 17 times and held three meetings with the public.

Town Council members John Vibert and Charlie Keniston, both members of the committee and Unionville residents, presented the group’s findings Tuesday, saying acting now may keep the project moving forward on Department of Transportation support and money from the Capital Region of Governments.

Plans are broken down into five intersections.

Where New Britain Avenue, Railroad Avenue and South Main Street intersect is the biggest problem, Keniston and Vibert said. The short-term solution would be to relocate the centerline on South Main Street to allow cars to flow past vehicles that are turning and increase the length of the left-turn signal for southbound traffic on South Main Street. The committee would also begin a discussion about the direction the community wants to go in with possible bridge reconstruction.

Across the bridge, the developer of the property of the Pioneer Steel Ball property would pay for an added right-hand turn lane on Mill Street. The lane, Keniston said, would enable more cars to get through the light and keep school traffic from backing up.

On School Street, Vibert said left turns would be prohibited. Traffic would have to either go up Mill Street to the light and turn left or take Elm Street to get back onto Main Street.

One solution for the five-street intersection is to add a left-turn signal on Lovely Street, which would run at the same time as the left-turn signal on South Main Street.

That will “allow traffic from Lovely Street to go up Farmington Avenue, then traffic will be able to flow without getting jammed up in the middle,” Vibert said, calling the area in the middle of the intersection a dangerous no man’s land. “It’s not perfect, you still may get cars stuck in the middle but we think it will improve it.”

A visual cue will be added in front of Stop & Shop to emphasize that drivers in the left lane must turn into the Stop & Shop parking lot. The signal light will also be switched to blink earlier, between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m.

Finally, two changes are already on the way. At West Avon Road, the ‘no turn on red’ signs have been removed to allow the turns both from Farmington Avenue and from West Avon Road. Also, the length of the left-turn signal for eastbound traffic on Farmington Avenue will be extended.

Moving the bike path along Railroad Avenue and making School Street one way are mid-term projects that would take more time. Reconstruction of the whole intersection at New Britain Avenue, South Main Street and Railroad Avenue is recommended for the long term, as is aligning Mill Street with Water Street (the entrance to Riversedge Plaza).

Finally, Keniston said that traffic is not Unionville’s only problem. The direction the Unionville bridge project should take will be part of a future committee discussion, though Keniston said he doesn’t expect to see any movement on the project in the next 20 years.

He is more hopeful about improving the business area where Dunkin’ Donuts, Georges Pizza and Pritchards are located. UVIA members have said they will talk to business owners about cleaning up the area and possibly reducing the number of entrances and exits to the property.

The goal is to make Unionville more appealing and navigable to the benefit of businesses, pedestrians and the residents who drive through the area every day.

“We want to make Unionville a destination, a place people drive to, not just through,” Vibert said.

Traffic committee members are:

• Ted Lindquist, UVIA
• Tim Eagles, UBC
• Robert Sanford, UBC
• Jan Coluti, resident
• Bernie Erickson, resident
• Paul Melanson, Farmington Chief of Police
• Jeff Ollendorf, Town Planner
• Carol Golas, recording secretary
• Charlie Keniston, Town Council
• John Vibert, Town Council