ACCESS FROM DOWNTOWN
BETHEL TO I-84 EXIT 8 IN BETHEL
Conn DOT designates a minor arterial corridor in Bethel that starts at Route 302 and proceeding northeast via Main Street, Maple Avenue, and Plumtrees Road to Walnut Hill Road and then on to Old Hawleyville Road.

This minor arterial corridor designation is intersected by a Conn DOT collector route designation on Walnut Hill Road heading north to Route 6. Using a combination of collector designated Shelter Rock Road and Payne Road, a traffic corridor with a total length of 3.6 miles links I-84 Exit 8 and northern Bethel with Route 302 and the central village area to the south.

The overall municipal traffic investment policy, as expressed in the 1997 Bethel Plan of Conservation and Development, does not support major upgrading in this north-south corridor.

According to the 1997 Plan “A certain number of proposals have been made over the past thirty years to improve the connections between Bethel Center and I-84. The first of these proposals involved a limited access highway between Maple Avenue and I-84 Exit 8, running north - south west of Payne Road.

This project was not pursued because of right-of-way and wetlands considerations. Then the 1984 Plan of Conservation and Development mentioned the need to address the demand for a connection between Bethel Center and I-84. The Town now feels that such a connection is not practical. This 1997 Plan does not recommend it.”

However at a lesser scale the 1997 Plan goes on to say "As a general goal, make improvements that facilitate better accessibility between Bethel Center and I-84 Exit 8."

Accordingly, some minor improvements, from the perspective of possible travel time changes, have been scheduled for this corridor. The first is at the key intersection of Plumtrees Road and Walnut Hill Road.

The 1997 Town Plan called for widening of Plumtrees Road at its bridge over East Swamp Brook which is at the intersection with Walnut Hill Road. That recommendation is now being implemented as a Conn DOT project to improve intersection capacity and safety.

The Conn DOT reaction to the Town's 1999 grant application for upgrading here stated that “Plumtrees Road is a minor arterial with a narrow functionally obsolete bridge between two offset “T” intersections. Twelve and nine accidents within the last three years have occurred at each of the “T” intersections that can be associated with lack of bypass capability and substandard radii."

Continuing " A wider replacement bridge will increase the capacity and safety of Plumtrees Road and the two “T” intersections.” Another issue here is that the existing turning radius for Walnut Hill Road traffic proceeding to turn right and south on to Plumtrees Road is only about 20 feet.

The final improvement agreed to here calls for the direct alignment of Walnut Hill Road with the intersection of Whittlesley Drive, thereby eliminating the current 180 foot offset between the two "T" intersections. Whittlesley Drive is the signalized entrance to the David W. Deakin Educational Park.

Moving north up the corridor, in late 1999 municipal officials applied to Conn DOT for federal funding for a replacement of the bridge on Walnut Hill Road over Limekiln Brook. The existing bridge had been rated by Conn DOT as structurally obsolete based on current width and traffic volumes.

A field review conducted in 2000 with Conn DOT staff indicated that some adjacent roadway improvements to the bridge approaches could also be included in the project.

Conn DOT proposed moving the small section of Walnut Hill Road south of the present bridge to the east to improve the sightline along Walnut Hill Road's southbound lane to the intersection with Taylor Road. A portion of Taylor Road is also to be reshaped and repaved.

In 2003 Town officials submitted to Conn DOT a proposal for a roundabout for the intersection of Walnut Hill Road and Taylor Road, an area that as noted above was to be part of the bridge replacement project.

However, Conn DOT responded in February of 2004 that "Improvements to the bridge approaches and to the intersection of Walnut Hill Road were allowed to be included in the project because they were considered to be minor in nature and ancillary to the main focus of the project - the bridge replacement." Coupled with some geometric reasons why it felt a roundabout was not best at this intersection, Conn DOT then rejected the idea.

Continuing north, the corridor briefly becomes Shelter Rock Road before becoming Payne Road. Shelter Rock Road at its intersection with Payne Road is an important Conn DOT designated collector route to Danbury. An attractive "Welcome to Bethel" sign is located at this intersection

It should be noted that parallel to part of Payne Road is commercially developed Old Sherman Turnpike in Danbury. According to the 2005 Danbury Transportation Plan a proposed future action is to extend the two lane Old Sherman Turnpike "from its current terminus south to Payne Road in consultation with Bethel. The justification is to provide alternative safe emergency access to businesses and secondly to promote economic development."

This connection would need to be made within Bethel, south of the point where Payne Road climbs significantly in elevation to run northerly along the side of a ridge about 90 to 100 feet above parallel Old Sherman Turnpike below.

A 1953 USGS topographic map documents that this connection once existed. The idea of restoring this link is only one of many concepts in the proposed 2005 Danbury Transportation Plan, and has no priority or preliminary impact study accompanying it.

As it starts its climb, between Brookview Court and Buff Lane, the westerly half of Payne Road lies within the City of Danbury, with the municipal boundary running along the roadway for one mile until it terminates at Route 6.

For a discussion of traffic issues associated with the intersection of Payne Road at Route 6 see the beginning of the Bethel Route 6 section.

ACCESS FROM DOWNTOWN
BETHEL TO I-84 EXIT 9 IN NEWTOWN
As noted above Conn DOT designates as a minor arterial corridor various local roadways starting at Route 302 and proceeding northeast via Main Street, Maple Avenue, and Plumtrees Road to Walnut Hill Road, a distance of 1.3 miles.

It is at the intersection with Walnut Hill Road where this corridor and the corridor described above separate.

The Conn DOT minor arterial designation continues easterly along Plumtrees Road thru the scenic Blue Jay Orchards to Old Hawleyville Road. At this intersection limited sight distances have been a complaint for some time.

The issue was raised at least as far back as the Bethel Ad Hoc Traffic Committee report of 1986. Then according to the 1997 Town Plan a goal is to "Improve sight distance at the corner of Old Hawleyville Road and Plumtrees Road."

At the Town's request Conn DOT examined the intersection in the late nineties for possible remediation as a federal project. However the needs were not found to be large enough to qualify for federal involvement.

Proceeding north on Old Hawleyville Road from Plumtrees Road to Route 6, a distance of about 1.3 miles, traffic bound for I-84 easterly turns right and proceeds on Route 6 east into Newtown and there enters I-84 at Exit 9.

FLEETWOOD AVENUE FROM
DANBURY LINE TO ROUTE 53
Fleetwood Avenue had a long history as a state roadway from and to nearby Danbury. In the early thirties it was signed for some years as Route 58A, then after that as 202A until 1974.

It remained a state roadway but unsigned from 1974 until 1981 when it was turned over for local maintenance. Its total length in Bethel is about one half mile.

Named Coal Pit Hill Road in Danbury, at the Bethel Town Line this former state roadway's name switches to Fleetwood Avenue. Soon thereafter the eastbound driver has the choice of Mansfield Street or Fleetwood Avenue, both of which terminate at intersections with Route 53.

Correspondence from Bethel officials 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."

About 1998 a southbound stop sign on Fleetwood Avenue at Mansfield Street was added to improve safety.

An HVCEO traffic engineering report to the Town dated April 2001 stated that "The existing layout of the intersection of Mansfield Street and Fleetwood Avenue consists of Mansfield splitting around a triangle into two lanes of traffic as it meets Fleetwood Avenue. Westbound and eastbound traffic are stop-controlled and northbound traffic has the right-of-way. We recommend that the Mansfield Street approach be redesigned such that the triangular island is eliminated and Mansfield Street form a regular T-intersection."

This improvement became a Bethel Planning and Zoning Commission permit condition for a nearby condominium development during 2004 and remains to be implemented.

WOOSTER STREET FROM
DANBURY SOUTH TO DOWNTOWN
Wooster Street is a local Bethel road paralleling Route 302 on the east side of the railroad tracks, extending from the Danbury City Line 1.0 mile south to P. T. Barnum Square. Traveling from Danbury to Bethel land use transitions from business to residential after the town line, requiring lower speeds.

The problem of speeding thru traffic has been met with signage strategies affirming the residential nature of the area, coupled with stepped up speed limit enforcement.

RESERVOIR STREET FROM
DANBURY LINE TO ROUTE 53
The length of Reservoir Street in Bethel is about two thirds of a mile. It is a Conn DOT designated collector route. While attractively quaint and scenic, Reservoir Street has some sharp curves and severe sightline limitations.

In November of 1996 the Town of Bethel requested Conn DOT to review possible solutions to safety issues on a small segment of Reservoir Street, an elevated accident rate location which might be funded through a federal grant program. The problem location was the combined curve and steep grade on Reservoir Street just east of Sycamore Court and Vera Drive.

A resulting 1998 Conn DOT study found that the horizontal curve here was less than 102 feet which is good for a design speed of only 20 miles per hour. Also, that vertical geometry was found to be substandard for the estimated average speeds being traveled. In addition “All of the accidents are pattern related to driving the curves too fast.”

Conn DOT in its 1998 study agreed that the need to correct horizontal geometry and the deficient vertical curve was legitimate. The curve could be straightened by moving part of Reservoir Street to the north, reconstructing approximately 700 feet of roadway in the process. The straightening of the curve, etc. would impact four properties and one of these would be a total take, at a cost then of about $700,000.

However, at Conn DOT’s public information meeting in Bethel on this project there was little public support for the changes thus the idea did not proceed.

Reservoir Street continues into Danbury for two tenths of a mile where as in Bethel it is classified by Conn DOT as collector route.

According to the 2005 Danbury Transportation Plan proposed actions for its section of Reservoir Street are to "Widen and reduce the severity of the "S" curve in an environmentally sensitive manner and replace the bridge, the justification being to improve traffic safety."

INTERSECTION OF HOYTS HILL
ROAD AND WALNUT HILL ROAD
Due to safety concerns Bethel applied for federal funds for revising this intersection. In 2002 and 2003 the Bethel Police Department recorded about 15 accidents here each year. It was then announced late in 2003 that the intersection would receive federal assistance thru Conn DOT.

Walnut Hill Road descends on a very steep curve here, meeting Hoyts Hill Road along the curve. The improvement concept is to move the intersection east to soften the grade and also widen Hoyts Hill Road slightly.

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