OVERVIEW OF ROUTE 53 IN BETHEL FROM
ROUTE 302 NORTH TO FLEETWOOD AVENUE
This is the highest volume segment of Route 53 in Bethel, also five lanes wide. Looking back, the 1958 Bethel Plan of Development documents that the 1955 traffic volume here was the highest of any state roadway in Bethel.

Then as now, the reason for the high volume is that both east-west and north-south traffic flows are combined along this short commercially zones segment, to be redistributed at the two nearby signalized intersections.

The 1969 Bethel Plan of Development made the following interesting observation relevant to commuter flows here: "Route 53 connects the Danbury-Bethel area to the Merritt Parkway and the Connecticut Turnpike. A portion of the through traffic presently carried by this roadway will likely be diverted to the proposed Route 7." But as we know today, The parallel Route 7 Expressway is no longer on the drawing boards.

Conn DOT projections indicate that average daily traffic volumes on Route 53 from Route 302 north to Fleetwood Avenue of about 21,600 in 2005 will rise to a high 27,800 in 2025. Aside from the multi-lane Route 6 rotary at I-84 Exit 8, this short segment of Route 53 has the highest projected 2025 traffic volume in Bethel.

Thus a "think out of the box" approach to long term improvement is ultimately necessary on this historically stressed segment of Route 53 and will be presented below.

Not surprisingly, the 1997 Bethel Plan of Conservation and Development states that the intersection of Route 53 with Route 302 “represents a traffic safety hazard.”

But one asset is the coordinated signal system operating on this high volume section, starting at the Route 302 signal and proceeding 635 feet north to the intersection with Fleetwood Avenue and Whitney Avenue. The coordinated signals operate at a 130 second cycle during the AM and PM peak periods.

The long cycle length results from multiple phases at each location to accommodate the “overlapping” traffic movements as well as pedestrians.

BETHEL’S ROUTE 53 AND
ROUTE 302 INTERSECTION
The removal of a traffic island here and the squaring off of the intersection was completed in 1991. It is interesting to note that when the CT DOT plan for this project was first announced in the later eighties, Route 53 pavement would have been moved closer to the landmark Sycamore Tree. But local residents started a petition drive to block any infringement on the space around the tree and the Conn DOT intersection plan was successfully modified.

The northbound AM peak hour traffic here continues north, with very few vehicles making the right turn onto Route 302, as time is saved by turning right on to Beach Street earlier. The same pattern is found in the PM peak.

As for the southbound AM peak at this intersection, about 40% leaves Route 53 and turns left onto Route 302 towards Downtown, a high percentage for a turn movement. The southbound left turn to Route 302 for the PM peak is even higher, at over 60%.

A 2001 HVCEO traffic engineering report on this intersection found that the southbound left turn movement from Route 53 to Route 302 was operating a Level of Service F, essentially failing, in both the AM and PM peak hours. This was the worst rating of any of the intersection movements at this intersection or at the Route 53 and Fleetwood Avenue intersection to the north.

An evaluation of the Route 53 and Route 302 intersection by HVCEO’s consulting traffic engineer found little possibility of short term improvements: “Long queues and delays occur for the southbound left movement at the intersection of Routes 53 and 302. This movement operates a level of service F during both the AM and PM peaks with average delays of 186 and 190 seconds respectively.”

And unfortunately, “Our calculations show that changes in signal phasing will be unable to improve the conditions at this intersection significantly.”

ROUTE 53 IN BETHEL AT
GRASSY PLAIN TERRACE
At Conn DOT hearings residents have asked for a signal to be installed here since as far back as 1990 or so.

According to a 2001 HVCEO traffic engineering report “The unsignalized T-intersection of Route 53 and Grassy Plain Terrace is located immediately north of the intersection of Route 53 and Route 302 . The close proximity of these two intersections contributes to the safety problems at Grassy Plain Terrace.

While the existing Level of Service at Route 53 and Grassy Plain Terrace is good (favorable Levels of Service B and C for all movements during both peaks), a high number of crashes occurred at this location, primarily collisions between northbound left turning vehicles and southbound through vehicles."

Continuing, "Because of the long delay, the queue for southbound vehicles turning left at Route 302 often extends back to the intersection of Grassy Plain Terrace in one lane. Drivers of these vehicles provide courtesy gaps.

While the northbound vehicles turning left are able to cross the first (left hand) lane of traffic through the courtesy gaps, the sight distance is poor and they sometimes collide with the southbound through vehicles in the right-hand lane that are moving at higher speeds.

This problem is largely due to the fact that the two southbound lanes are controlled by separate signal phases. During the north-south signal phase the southbound left-turns are stopped while the southbound through vehicles circulate.”

The report concludes, “As a short-term safety improvement, we recommend that left turns into and out from Grassy Plain Terrace be prohibited and the exiting left turn lane be replaced with a raised median. Signs should be installed on the median to make it visible and to eliminate the confusion that exists for southbound traffic.”

INTERSECTION OF FLEETWOOD
AVENUE WITH ROUTE 53 IN BETHEL
This intersection was last reconfigured by Conn DOT in 1991 when the northbound thru lane was added.

Over 30% of the Route 53 northbound AM peak hour traffic makes a left turn onto Fleetwood Avenue. The same northbound turn movement in the PM peak is just under 40% of total Route 53 traffic.

Route 53 northbound approaching
the traffic signal at Fleetwood Avenue.

As for the southbound AM peak on Fleetwood Avenue, about 90% of the total makes a right turn onto Route 53. This right turn to Route 302 during the PM peak is also about 90%.

The 2001 HVCEO report on this intersection found that the northbound PM peak left from Route 53 to Fleetwood Avenue was operating at Level of Service F. But the statistical indices behind the F rating were not as severe as for the failing left turn to the south onto Route 302.

Also, only the PM peak failed, not the AM peak as to the south. This is because there are almost twice as many vehicles making the Route 53 northbound left turn to Fleetwood Avenue in the PM peak as in the AM peak.

The HVCEO report recommended that “in the short term, the Level of Service can be improved moderately by increasing the amount of green time for the northbound left. Adding ten seconds of green time for this movement will improve its Level of Service to D and improve the overall intersection to C.”

INTERSECTION OF MANSFIELD
STREET WITH ROUTE 53 IN BETHEL
Moving north to the next intersection, correspondence from Bethel to HVCEO in 2000 noted that “Much southbound traffic from Danbury uses the combination of the Coal Pit Hill Road-Fleetwood Avenue corridor to reach Route 53. Part of this eastbound approach to Route 53 is paralleled by Mansfield Street, a local road.” The municipal goal is to guide thru traffic to use Fleetwood Avenue rather than the parallel section of Mansfield Street."

Continuing, "However, the Mansfield Street access to Route 53 ultimately offers more green time once on Route 53 southbound when attempting to pass through the nearby Route 53 approach to the intersection with Fleetwood Avenue, more so than does the Fleetwood Avenue approach to Route 53. Bethel is seeking a strategy to discourage use of Mansfield Street as a bypass to Fleetwood Avenue.”

ROUTE 53 IN BETHEL LONG TERM
SOLUTION FOR HIGHEST VOLUME SEGMENT
To again quote HVCEO’s traffic engineering report “Because of the high proportions of left-turn movements at the intersections with Greenwood Avenue and with Fleetwood Avenue, and because of the high number of left-turn crashes between these two intersections, we tested the feasibility of installing two roundabouts at the major intersections.

The roundabouts, combined with a raised landscaped median in between, would replace all left-turns with u-turns at the roundabouts and consequently would eliminate all left-turn crashes."

Continuing, "Roundabouts would increase the safety and capacity at the two intersections and would also permit the reintroduction of on-street parking along Route 53.

The landscaped median would substantially improve safety and performance along Route 53 between the intersection of Route 53 and Fleetwood Avenue/Whitney Road and the intersection of Route 53 and Greenwood Avenue.”

Roundabouts would dramatically increase safety and
capacity at the two intersections and would permit
reintroduction of on-street parking along Route 53.

Additional perspective was offered in these summary comments: “This long-term improvement proposal combines the best of traffic engineering with a substantial aesthetic enhancement of the key entry point into Bethel. The two roundabouts would operate with substantially shorter delays than the signalized intersections.

The numerous injury accidents currently occurring along this stretch of roadway would be reduced significantly. Based on federal, state and insurance industry endorsements, we can expect total crashes to decrease by 40% to 50% and injury crashes to decrease by 70% to 80%."

Continuing, "The two roundabouts together with the landscaped median will improve the visual quality of this important gateway for Bethel substantially, and will have a beneficial impact on the surrounding neighborhood. The roundabouts allow us to increase the intersection capacity without widening the approaches, saving parking.”

And concluding, “The lower speeds enforced by the design of the roundabouts, together with the visual improvement and the extensive parking introduced by the roundabout design will also have a positive impact on the retail viability of this section of Route 53.”

As for the traffic engineer’s more technical documentation, “The roundabout design for Route 53 and Fleetwood Avenue/Whitney Road would operate at Level of Service (LOS) B with an average delay of 6.1 seconds in the AM and 14.6 in the PM. The LOS for the northbound movement would improve significantly. This movement would experience a maximum delay of 10.8 seconds in the AM and 37.2 seconds in the PM.

The roundabout design at the Route 53 and Route 302 (Greenwood Avenue) intersection would leave the giant sycamore tree at the south end of the intersection in place.

With the geometry shown and existing volumes, this roundabout would operate at LOS B during the AM and PM peaks with average delays of 5.1 seconds in the AM and 9.0 seconds in the PM. Maximum delays for the southbound movement would improve to 7.2 seconds in the AM and 5.4 seconds in the PM.”

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.

ROUTE 53 IN BETHEL NORTH OF
FLEETWOOD AVENUE TO DANBURY
Continuing up Route 53, average daily traffic volumes north of Fleetwood Avenue to Danbury of 13,500 in 2005 will rise to about 17,300 in 2025. A multi-family development known as Lexington Crossing has been constructed at the Bethel - Danbury Town Line.

Concerning the access drive to Lexington Crossing on the west side of Route 53 just south of the Danbury Line, the developer's traffic engineer found that changes to Route 53 are needed to manage the additional site traffic.

"Placement of a traffic signal at this intersection in conjunction with the addition of a northbound left turn lane would improve overall level of service to LOS A."

As of 3/2005 Conn DOT was holding off on a final recommendation on signal installation here to await completion of the project and determination of the traffic pattern.

This regional traffic review continues into Danbury’s segment of Route 53.

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