ROUTE 302 IN BETHEL OVERVIEW
This state route begins in Bethel at Route 53. It proceeds 3.7 miles easterly thru Downtown Bethel and crosses into Newtown.

It is also known as Greenwood Avenue easterly to its intersection with Milwaukee Avenue and as Milwaukee Avenue after that point to the Newtown Town Line.

Route 302 thru the Downtown to Judd Avenue is served by HART public bus route # 5.

All of Route 302 in Bethel is designated by Conn DOT as a minor arterial roadway. From the Conn DOT perspective, important intersections on Route 302 will be those at any other Conn DOT arterial and collector designated roadways interacting with it.

There are four of these. Proceeding easterly there is Beach Street as a collector, the combination of the P. T. Barnum Square - Main Street - Maple Avenue -Plumtrees Road corridor as a minor arterial, third the northern terminus of Route 58 which is a minor arterial, and finally with the southern terminus of Old Hawleyville Road which is again a minor arterial.

Conn DOT’s 2005 estimated average daily traffic volumes show significant changes as Route 302 moves easterly thru Bethel. The volumes are 12,400 where it begins at Route 53, peaking at 16,200 between Beach Street and Library Place.

Then 13,400 thru Downtown to Chestnut Street, down to 7,900 between Topstone Drive #1 and Milwaukee Avenue, up to about 11,000 between Milwaukee Avenue and Judd Avenue, then falling to about 8,500 at the Newtown Town Line.

Zoning easterly along Route 302 starts as commercial, switches to largely residential between Beach Street and Grand Street, then to commercial thru the Downtown. After the east end of the Downtown at Chestnut Street zoning is entirely residential to the Newtown Town Line.

Capacity and safety advantages of a roundabout
at the intersection of Route 302 with Route 53
are detailed at the end of the Route 53 North text.

A policy statement on the roundabout recommendation was included in the adopted 2007 Bethel Plan of Conservation and Development. In the section entitled "Implement HVCEO Recommendations", it was stated that:

The Board of Selectmen should support the development of a detailed feasibility study, funded by the HVCEO transportation planning program, as soon as possible. This study should include an evaluation of the conceptual plan in regards to Conn DOT's roundabout criteria.

The completed feasibility study should then be submitted to the Conn DOT Project Development Unit with an application for funding.

As an historic note, an old idea from the 1984 Bethel Plan of Development was to bypass Route 302 easterly via use of Diamond Avenue, an east-west roadway that has its western terminus near the Route 302 intersection with Route 53. The idea was to bypass Greenwood Avenue - Route 302 by proceeding east on Diamond Avenue to a new crossing of the rail line, thereby allowing a connection with Durant Avenue.

However a 1987 HVCEO traffic engineering report documented many disadvantages to this conceptual plan, coupled with high cost and few advantages. This circulation concept is no longer active in Bethel planning.

Continuing on Route 302 a relatively sharp turn to the right leads quickly to the intersection with Beach Street, a Conn DOT designated collector roadway that leads westerly via Reservoir Street into Danbury.

The residential section then appears, with the Church of Bethel a landmark at the top of the slight hill here.

The next landmark is Front Street just to the west of the Danbury Branch Rail Line, with the Bethel Railroad Station on Durant Avenue nearby to the north, followed by the intersection with Library Place to the east.

A landmark to the right is the old Bethel Railroad Station, a building that opened in 1898 and continued as a passenger depot until 1996 when the new Durant Avenue station opened. The railroad station relocation project originated from an HVCEO study of the topic, that study approved by the Bethel Ad Hoc Traffic Committee in 1986.

Route 302 looking eastbound entering the Downtown.
The signals at the railroad crossing at Front Street are
coordinated with those across the tracks at Library Place.

Concerning the intersection with Library Place, the 1997 Bethel Plan of Conservation and Development states that the intersection “represents a traffic safety hazard.”

Also of interest, the 1997 Bethel Plan of Conservation and Development advises that restriction of nearby Depot Place to one-way southbound traffic, as recommended in the 1987 HVCEO study, has been found by the current Plan's consultant traffic engineer not to be needed.

ROUTE 302 IN BETHEL FROM
LIBRARY PLACE TO CHESTNUT STREET
This section of Route 302 is the heart of historic Downtown Bethel. There are many highly detailed traffic, parking, crosswalk and driveway issues that have been studied over many years. These details are not a subject of this regional review.

But do note that at the north edge of P. T. Barnum Square, at the intersection of Main, School and Wooster Streets, various strategies to increase safety and visibility have been implemented and debated over the years.

Worthy of note is the special attractive character of sidewalks along Route 302 from the railroad tracks east to and including the sides of P. T. Barnum Square. These were funded by a federal transportation enhancement grant after Bethel won a regional competition in 1995.

The 1997 Bethel Plan of Conservation and Development sets the tone for any future traffic study on Route 302's Downtown section: “Bethel Center has been able to maintain a unique character and charm, possibly because some of the improvements considered decades ago were never built. Being 'hidden away' may have saved the downtown from larger commercial intrusions.”

Continuing, “However, it is important to devise plans for maintaining the overall circulation quality here. This will probably involve spot improvements at critical intersections, possibly additional minor connections, improvements to pedestrian circulation and safety, and parking strategies.”

Downtown Bethel along Route 302 as it looked in 1951.
This area today retains high historic, scenic and
cultural qualities of value to the entire region.

The core of the Downtown, P.T. Barnum Square, is the beginning of a minor arterial corridor leading north. HVCEO's 1987 Bethel Center Traffic Flow Improvement Plan had projected that, eventually, a traffic signal would be warranted on Route 302 at this location. That recommendation will need reevaluation at some point.

Westbound view of busy Route 302 thru
Downtown Bethel approaching P.T. Barnum Square.

The eastern end of the Downtown is then represented by the traffic signal at the intersection of Route 302 with Chestnut Street and Chestnut Ridge Road. The 1997 Bethel Plan of Conservation and Development states that the intersection with Chestnut Street “represents a traffic safety hazard.”

According to the HVCEO’s 2004 report entitled “Evaluation of Traffic Signal Coordination” the Route 302 and Chestnut Street intersection is spaced 2010 feet easterly from the currently coordinated Route 302 and Front Street/Library Place/Railroad crossing intersection.

The report suggests that the traffic signal here could be coordinated: "Time based coordination should be considered to coordinate the Route 302 and Front Street/Library Place intersections with the Route 302 and Chestnut Street and Chestnut Ridge Road intersection."

ROUTE 302 IN BETHEL FROM CHESTNUT
STREET TO THE NEWTOWN TOWN LINE
As noted easterly after Chestnut Street Bethel's zoning changes from commercial to residential, continuing at lessening residential densities until the Newtown town Line.

Parallel to Route 302 to the north is a section of Milwaukee Avenue. As for some drivers this local road can serve as a bypass for Route 302, to promote safety in 2001 stop signs were added in both directions at the intersection of Milwaukee Avenue and Kayview Avenue.

A landmark is the stop sign on Route 302 at Topstone Drive #1, Oxford Street and Hoyts Hill Road. Travelers seeking Route 58 south have a choice at this intersection, use of state roads or taking a shortcut via Hoyts Hill Road. The trip east on Route 302 to Route 58 is .5 miles, followed by travel south for .7 miles to the easterly intersection with Hoyts Hill Road, for a total of 1.2 miles.

Using Hoyts Hill Road itself to cut the corner involves a total distance southeasterly of a lesser 0.8 miles. The disincentive is that the Hoyts Hill Road routing necessitates climbing 200 feet in elevation and then the reverse downhill.

Another Route 302 stop sign is located shortly after the Hoyts Hill intersection, this time with Milwaukee Avenue.

Next, at the top of a small hill is the signalized intersection of Route 302 with Route 58. This is also the terminal point for Route 58, a minor arterial arriving northerly from Redding, CT. A new Conn DOT project as of May 2006 is to improve the turning radius from Route 58 northbound to Route 302 eastbound, this to be Conn DOT Project No. 0009-H017.

Then after a descent to cross the valley of north flowing Wolf Pit Brook, the next traffic features on Route 302 are two closely spaced signalized intersections, first with Taylor Road and then with Wolfpits Road.

During 1997 municipal officials reviewed with Conn DOT the possibility of rebuilding and combining these intersections by use of federal funds. However, it was found that while intersection geometry was substandard, there was not a high enough accident rate here to justify federal funding.

It was mutually agreed that since the latest signal upgrade that converted the Wolfpits Road signal from a semi-actuated operation to a fully actuated operation and included Taylor Road in the phasing had improved the accident history at the intersection, no further action would be pursued.

It is worthy of note that proceeding north on Route 58, turning east along Route 302, and then north again on Old Hawleyville Road is a CT DOT designated Cross State Bicycle Route.

Moving east, a landmark on the right is the intersection with Old Hawleyville Road, yet another minor arterial roadway, heading north to Stony Hill where it crosses Route 6 and passes into Brookfield.

View of westbound Route 302 showing 2002 construction
work to realign the intersection with Old Hawleyville Road

Fortunately the Old Hawleyville Road bridge over Limekiln Brook was replaced with a twin box culvert design as part of a recent Conn DOT improvement, this the result of a municipal initiative in 1996 when an application to Conn DOT for federal improvement funds was filed.

The twin box culverts were constructed adjacent to the existing bridge, which then allowed for realigning the roadway and forming a much preferred “T” intersection with Route 302. The older bridge was then removed.

This project achieved a desirable improvement to Route 302-Old Hawleyville Road intersection geometry, such that better stopping sight distance was provided and the potential for rear end accidents reduced.

Just after the intersection with Codfish Hill Road and continuing into Newtown, Route 302 crosses the Limekiln Brook Aquifer. At the town line this traffic issues review continues into Newtown's segment of Route 302.

BETHEL INTRO --- BETHEL RT 6 --- BETHEL RT 53 SOUTH --- BETHEL RT 53 NORTH
BETHEL RT 58 --- BETHEL RT 302 --- BETHEL NON-STATE ROADWAYS