More Studies Needed on Bates Rock Road

The town’s traffic engineer affirmed there was speeding on Bates Rock Road, but couldn’t draw conclusions on the level of through traffic and requested further trials in spring.

The engineering firm of Wilbur Smith Associates was hired by Southbury to study Bates Rock Road after residents of the street complained that speeding cars were using it as a cut-through between Rte. 67 and Poverty Road.

The town installed temporary speed humps earlier this year, but hired the engineers to see if a more permanent solution was needed.

The traffic advisors studied the speeds and traffic counts at both ends of the street during Oct. 19 to Oct. 27 and then just traffic counts after closing the road from Oct. 27 to Nov. 5. 

According to the report, the engineer was unable to draw a conclusion about the level of through traffic due to “traffic volume inconsistencies between the northern and southern traffic count locations.”  However, it does report that traffic volumes fell after closing the road.

The report did find that travel speed on the road was significantly higher than the 15 mph speed limit.  Travelers tend to drive around 34 mph on the unpaved end of the street and 42 mph at the paved end. 

Since the the reports were gathered before the installation of speed humps on the road, the engineers have requested further studies once the snow has melted.

The Board of Selectmen discussed the report at their meeting, Thursday, noting that any action they decided on would have to wait until spring anyway.  Any solution that included reshaping the road would necessitate buying land from Connecticut Light and Power, who own the adjacent lots.

The engineer’s findings on traffic volumes are below.