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ENFIELD TOWN COUNCIL
MINUTES OF A SPECIAL MEETING
JANUARY 20, 2004
A Special Meeting of the Enfield Town Council was called to order by Acting Chairman Lewis Fiore in the Enfield Room, Enfield Town Hall, 820 Enfield Street, Enfield, Connecticut on Tuesday, January 20, 2004 at 6:03 p.m.
ROLL-CALL - Present were Councilmen Edgar, Egan, Fiore, Kaupin, Mangini, Reveruzzi. Councilmen Tait and Tallarita were absent. Councilman Crowley entered at
6:20 p.m., Councilman Dodd entered at 6:21 p.m., Councilman Peruta entered at 6:26 p.m. Also present were Town Manager, Scott Shanley; Assistant Town Manager, Daniel Vindigni, Town Clerk, Suzanne Olechnicki; Town Attorney, Christopher Bromson; Director of Public Works, John Kazmarski; Deputy Director of Public Works, Geoffrey McAlmond; Director of Planning and Community Development, Jose Giner
PRESENTATION BY CRCOG - ROUTE 190 STUDY
Present for this discussion was Thomas Maziar from the Capitol Region Council of Governments (CRCOG).
Mr. Shanley stated Mr. Maziar is present this evening to present the final report of the Route 190 study. He noted the Council's agenda includes a resolution accepting this study. He explained if this study is accepted, it will go on to CRCOG for acceptance.
Mr. Maziar explained this study was a two-year process which started with a technical analysis of the 190 corridor. He noted they looked at accident and congestion problems. He stated they then went into the process of trying to develop some solutions to those problems. He pointed out the process to develop solutions involved working with a local advisory committee comprised of local residents and town officials. He noted the local advisory committee endorsed the final set of recommendations.
He reviewed the general findings they had during the course of the study. He noted they did an analysis of how traffic would grow in the 190 corridor over a 20-year period, and they found a low to moderate growth rate - only 20% or less. He stated as a result of that finding, they felt there was really no need to do any major road widening because most of the problems they saw were fairly isolated, primarily at individual intersections, therefore, the recommendations are really tailored to individual spot or intersection problems.
Mr. Maziar stated one of the factors they believe contributed to the overall good situation on 190 and the lack of the need to widen the road has to do with the town having a fairly good set of access management practices, i.e., driveway management. He noted this is critical in commercial areas.
Mr. Maziar then listed those areas where they have recommendations:
" The commercial area from Route 91 to Palomba Drive
" The transition area between Palomba Drive and Hazardville Village
" Scitico area
He referred to the intersection problems at Palomba Drive and Phoenix Avenue. He noted the problems at Palomba Drive will be addressed by a project that should be underway by spring. He stated they focused on the intersection at Phoenix Avenue and they also had recommendations for pedestrian improvements and a multi-use trail in the area. He noted the last recommendation had to do with a tie-in between the Enfield Square and Enfield Commons malls.
He used an illustration to explain the Phoenix Avenue improvement, which he noted is a fairly simple improvement which means they'd be able to move forward once they get Town endorsement on the concept. He explained there is currently a three-lane approach northbound with a left-turn lane and an exclusive through lane, as well as an exclusive right-turn lane. He stated rather than having three separate lanes, they're proposing dedicating two lanes to left turns and the right lane would be designated as a shared through and right-turn lane. He noted with this configuration they would have a much better level of service without having to do any pavement work.
Mr. Maziar stated they are also proposing a small connector roadway to allow traffic from the Enfield Square to enter into the Enfield Commons area without having to come out onto Route 190. He noted this will take some traffic out of the intersection area.
Acting Chairman Fiore referred to the connector road and questioned whether any consideration was given to the wetness of the land behind Motel 6. Councilman Reveruzzi pointed out there's a conservation easement that runs along this area as well.
Mr. Maziar noted they looked at other options as well. He stated at this point this is one of the less critical recommendations.
Mr. Maziar then spoke about the transition area from Palomba Drive to Hazardville Village. He noted their future goals for this area are as follows:
" accommodate future development
" maintain safe traffic flow through this area
" create a more friendly pedestrian environment
" maintain a nice transition area into Hazardville Village
" continue sidewalk along north side of Palomba Drive all the way to the Hazardville Village
" maintain the same access management policy through the transition area
" from Palomba Drive to the Enfield Professional Center - be prepared to add a center turn lane in this area - this will get the left-turning vehicles out of the main travel lane
" beyond the Enfield Professional Center, it's proposed retaining the two-lane arrangement that exists today to keep traffic speed down and keep a good transition into Hazardville Village
Mr. Maziar then spoke about the area Hazardville Village area and noted they had two concerns in terms of traffic--one was the Maple Street intersection and the other was the Elm Street intersection. He acknowledged the Elm Street intersection has already been addressed with the recently completely project. He went on to note they then focused on Maple Street and they went into that with the overall goal of trying to preserve and enhance the village character in this area while doing roadway improvements.
He explained they had two different concepts for the intersection of Maple Street and Route 190. He explained the first option is a fairly simple approach to solve the problem. He noted the current conditions involve a two-lane approach in both directions and the lane closer to the center of the road is a shared through, left-turn lane and the lane closest to the edge of the road (the right-hand lane) is an exclusive right-turn lane. He explained a more conventional intersection approach would have an exclusive left-turn lane and a shared through, right-turn lane. He pointed out that is what's being proposed in this area. He noted this is simply reassigning the lanes and will help lower driver frustration. It is also believed this particular intersection is unnecessarily wide with a lot of pavement on the south side of the road. They propose removing that pavement and re-dedicating it to some type of green space. He pointed out this will result in more green space between the road and sidewalk, as well as creating more of a buffer between commercial pieces.
Mr. Maziar stated the other improvement that they proposed is a response to some comments they heard at one of their public information meetings. He noted people complained they had difficulty parking cars whereby their car doors would swing out into traffic. He stated they're proposing indenting the parking to create a pocket parking area and widen the pavement by about six to eight feet so that car doors would not be opening into travel lanes. He pointed out this would actually fit with the overall concept of the streetscaping plan for this area since that plan showed some pocket parking areas.
He noted the second option is very much like the first concept with one exception and that has to do with an additional approach lane in the eastbound direction. He noted this is in response to some comments heard at one of the public meetings. He stated people felt that their proposal wouldn't be sufficient to handle traffic flow in this area once Southview Road is closed.
Mr. Maziar then reviewed the Scitico area, which he believes was the most complex situation. He noted they were dealing with a number of different issues. He stated this is not a particularly pedestrian friendly area due to the lack of sidewalks. He added this area is not very visually attractive. He noted there were also some intersection problems at the two intersections - Broadbrook and Taylor Road. He stated area residents expressed concern about cut through traffic on Scitico Road. He reviewed recommendations as follows:
" do streetscaping in this area to soften the roadway environment
" complete the sidewalk network
" at the intersection of Broadbrook - there's almost a two-lane approach from the westbound direction - it is not marked as such, but it's wide enough whereby cars are able to get around the right-hand shoulder - widening this by three feet can actually accommodate a formal left-turn lane
" at the intersection of Taylor Road - more formalization of lanes and a partial or complete closure of Scitico Road
Mr. Maziar stated they are looking for the Council's endorsement of the general concepts and once they have that they will get endorsement from CRCOG. He noted they would then come back to the Town to get their priorities and they will then work with the Town and DOT to try and get funding at least for the first priority project. He pointed out this is a fairly long process and could take a couple years before the funding is in place. He noted they would then move forward with the design.
Councilman Mangini commended Mr. Maziar on his presentation. She acknowledged there have been a lot of complaints about the Scitico intersection. She questioned what kind of lighting would be put in the Scitico area. Mr. Maziar stated they haven't looked into the issue of lighting at this point.
Councilman Kaupin questioned the high cost of work in the commercial area at Phoenix if they're not widening the road. Mr. Maziar noted this has to do with changing signals and signage.
Councilman Edgar suggested sidewalks heading west and onto the exit ramp leading to Route 5. He noted pedestrians frequently walk along this dangerous area. A lengthy discussion followed concerning the provision of safe pedestrian walkways to and from Route 5 to the malls on Route 190. Mr. Maziar noted there was discussion about a raisedwalkway over the highways, however, that's very expensive - $3 to $4 million dollars. He noted there was a recommendation for the state to come in and re-evaluate the cloverleaf configuration between Route 5 and the commercial area on Route 190.
Councilman Edgar stated if they only had a sidewalk extending from Enfield Street down to Route 190, it would be helpful. He noted this is the area where they had a pedestrian fatality. Mr. Maziar noted they could take another look at this.
Councilman Dodd raised the idea of widening the road in the Scitico section to lessen the stacking of cars in that area. Mr. Maziar noted they were trying to do this work with minimal impact on property. He noted their analysis shows their recommendation should provide for a good level of service. He pointed out that if by the time this goes to design it's decided the level of service isn't really going to be efficient, they can look at other options.
Acting Chairman Fiore noted this item can be raised at Miscellaneous in the regular meeting of the Council this evening.
Councilman Egan stated she served on this committee and she feels this committee was very efficiently run and everyone in the community had ample opportunity to provide feedback. She pointed out everyone's opinions and ideas were considered.
MOTION #6946 by Councilman Mangini, seconded by Councilman Crowley to go into Executive Session to discuss Personnel Matters, Pending Litigation and Real Estate Negotiations.
Upon a SHOW-OF-HANDS vote being taken, the Chair declared MOTION #6946 adopted 9-0-0, and the meeting stood recessed at 6:47 p.m.
The Executive Session of the Enfield Town Council was called to order by Chairman Tallarita at 6:50 p.m.
ROLL-CALL - Present were Councilmen Crowley, Dodd, Edgar, Egan, Fiore, Kaupin, Mangini, Peruta, and Reveruzzi. Also present were Town Manager, Scott Shanley; Assistant Town Manager, Daniel Vindigni; Town Clerk, Suzanne Olechnicki; Town Attorney Christopher Bromson
Personnel Matters, Pending Litigation and Real Estate Negotiations were discussed with no action or votes being taken.
Acting Chairman Fiore adjourned the Executive Session at 7:12 p.m. He reconvened the Special Meeting at 7:13 p.m. and stated during Executive Session they discussed Personnel Matters, Pending Litigation and Real Estate Negotiations with no action or votes being taken.
ADJOURNMENT
MOTION #6947 by Councilman Mangini, seconded by Councilman Kaupin to adjourn.
Upon a SHOW-OF-HANDS vote being taken, the Chair declared MOTION #6947 adopted 9-0-0 and the meeting stood adjourned at 7:14 p.m.
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