Town Gets Walk-Through of Route 10 Corridor Study

A joint meeting between the board of selectmen and about a half dozen other land use agencies in town was held Aug. 4 to review the Route 10 Corridor Study draft report.

Copies are available at the and at in the planning office and the town clerk’s office. It is also online at the Capitol Region Council of Governments’ website, click here.

The board of selectmen plans to formally vote on the document, which will include holding a public hearing, in September. The Route 10 Corridor Study Steering Committee also needs to endorse the report.

The Capitol Region Council of Governments is the organization behind the study, which was done in conjunction with the state Department of Transportation (DOT) and the town.

On hand to walk through the study were the consultants on the project: Ted DeSantos, a principal with Fuss & O’Neill, and Wade Walker, director of transportation planning at Fuss & O’Neill.

The Route 10 corridor study area is seven miles, and has as its focus transportation.

A charrette was held in conjunction with the project in February and what the consultants heard there has been informing their work since. The guiding principals are also written on the second page of the report, including maintaining the integrity of a two-lane Route 10.

One element of the report has already been put in place. The work coincided with the state’s plan to repave Route 10, a state road, which meant re-striping. The idea in the report was the make the lanes narrower by painting 11-foot lanes (five-foot shoulder) versus 14-feet (two-foot shoulder). This has been completed. The narrowing slows traffic, which enhances the pedestrian experience.

First Selectman Mary Glassman noted that the corridor area is about 80 percent developed and the idea behind the study is to have a 20-year master plan in place for the corridor’s development and redevelopment.

“We really wanted to plan ahead,” she said, before the town was put in a position where it had to make traffic changes due to a development plan.

The objective is to have the master plan used as a blueprint for town boards and commission, as well as with the town Plan of Conservation and Development.

The thinking is to be in charge of the corridor. To be ready when a developer comes in with a plan that could decide how, for example, an intersection might look. In this way, how the town wants that intersection to look will be in place.

There are seven bridges either in town or just over the town line and there are no plans to build anymore. So to make improvements to traffic movements there are some inherent limitations. Along this Route 10 stretch there are 15 intersections with various challenges.

The seven miles were broken down into seven character segments: the southern gateway, Weatogue section, a mixed commercial area, historic industry and housing area, the town center, the green corridor and the north gateway.

The consultants went through each of the seven sections and described the proposed changes, which Hiram Peck, the town’s director of planning, said are not set in stone.

The change that got the most attention and feedback at the meeting was the intersection of Nod Road, Route 185 and Route 10. Traffic congests there — and depending on who you talk to it’s a problem or a nuisance — but the fact remains that this is a 20-year plan and the area needed to be addressed.

The suggestion as proposed would mean removing the light at Nod Road and Route 185 and making it a right-turn only from Nod onto Route 185. There would also be a left turn from Route 185 onto Nod Road and a bypass lane. The teardrop intersection would be removed and a roundabout put in it place.

Walker said a roundabout in this area (and it is not the same as a rotary as rotaries are bigger) would slow traffic considerably.

The changes would increase the lanes in both directions. Up farther, when you are coming down the hill into Simsbury, there is a stretch that is four lanes. The proposal would make the whole section four lanes.

For drivers at Nod Road wanting get to Route 10 you would go right and take the roundabout back to Route 10 or take the roundabout and get to town by traveling on East Weatogue Street.

Some in attendance thought directing traffic to the historic district was not a good idea, but DeSatnos said the numbers showed that not many people are taking the left turn from Nod Road onto Route 185 in the first place.

DeSantos stressed that this proposal does not include any taking of land or eminent domain action. The hope is to work with property owners as opportunity arises.

Other suggestions included in the southern gateway area to relocate the greenway crossing to a traffic signal and to add an exclusive pedestrian phase to the traffic signal, and to eliminate the channelized right into the Hartford, as it encourages faster speeds.

In Weatogue there are improvement to create a town green area, expand the commuter lot and accentuate the greenway crossing.

In the mixed commercial area, and historic industry and housing area one suggestion is to extend Iron Horse Boulevard. Included in the historic industry and housing area was the suggestion to relocate Drake Hill Road to create a four-way intersection with West Street.

Connector roads up and down Hopmeadow Street, for example, extend Wolcott Road to coordinate with the Dorset Crossing site plan, are also suggested. Adding more sidewalks along Route 10 and creating bulbouts (a curb extension) in certain spots in the town center to reduce the amount of roadway a pedestrian needs to cross, thus making it safer, were also presented.

Another suggested fix in the report includes managing the speeds along the corridor, as they switch from 40 in the southern gateway to 45, 35, 30, 35, 40, 35 and 40 in the northern gateway. The suggestion is to change that to 40, 35, 30, 35 and 40, respectively.

In all, the document hopes to address safety, access management and development potential/growth along the Route 10 corridor in Simsbury, with a noted focus on pedestrians.

Kevin Crimmins, a member of the economic development commission, said the presentation was good.

“Its cool to see how much they took from the charrette,” he said.

Alan Needham said he was glad to see the many connections being made between neighborhoods for pedestrian access. He said he remember getting in the car to drive somewhere to take a walk.