ROUTE 53 IN DANBURY CORRIDOR OVERVIEW

For an understanding of the key traffic safety terms "TASR" and "SLOSSS" that are repeatedly referenced in the discussions below, be sure to review the "Introduction to Danbury, CT Traffic" section.

Entering Danbury at Route 53's milepost 20.17 from Bethel, the entire 2.80 miles of Route 53 northerly through Danbury to its terminus at Route 37 near I-84 is designated by Conn DOT as a principal arterial route. This highest of functional classifications recognizes Route 53's north-south role in Fairfield County and its use as a central spine of traffic in Danbury.

From the Conn DOT perspective, important intersections on Route 53 will be those at other Conn DOT arterial or collector designated roadways interacting with it. As Route 53 runs through the core of the Region’s urban center as Danbury’s Main Street, there is a thick network of such designations, thirteen in all;

First 1) with a series of four Conn DOT designated collectors including 1) Shelter Rock Road, 2) Coal Pit Hill Road, 3) Triangle Street and 4) Town Hill Avenue. Next there is 5) South Street as a minor arterial, 6) Wooster Street as a collector, 7) West Street as a principal arterial and 8) White Street also receiving the top rank of principal arterial.

Then at the north end of Downtown Danbury are 9) Elm Street as a collector, 10) a Conn DOT minor arterial designation for Garamella Boulevard and again a minor arterial designation for 11) Franklin Street. Then finally there is the interface with 12) North Street (Route 37) and 13) Downs Street (Route 841) as principal arterial routes, the same high Conn DOT classification as Main Street itself.

Two local road names are applied to sections of Danbury’s Route 53. From the Bethel Town Line and extending for 1.35 miles northerly to Memorial Drive, this state route is known as South Street. Here, where the route turns a corner from southwesterly to northwesterly, the remainder of Route 53 to Route 37 is known as Main Street, with that part north of Downtown Danbury after Kennedy Avenue also known as North Main Street.

As for adjacent land use, from the Bethel Line north to Memorial Drive the corridor is characterized by mixed residential, commercial and industrial uses. >From there northward it forms the center of the Downtown Danbury retail district and is primarily commercial in nature.

Conn DOT’s 1999 average daily traffic volumes show 12,800 vehicles on Route 53 from the Bethel Town Line to Triangle Street. Then occurs the highest volume segment, from Triangle Street to Memorial Drive, at 22,100.

From Memorial Drive to the center of the central business district at the intersection with West and Liberty Streets, the 1999 average daily traffic volume was 20,100, then slightly less at 18,000 from there northward to this roadways’ terminus at Route 37, just before I-84.

The Danbury and HVCEO overall upgrading policy for lane additions in the Route 53 corridor is to create a four lane cross section from Memorial Drive northerly to Boughton Street. This addition would link up the adjacent four lane segments to the south and the north. Current conditions and issues on Route 53 in Danbury are as follows;

1. ROUTE 53 IN DANBURY FROM THE BETHEL
TOWN LINE NORTHERLY TO MAIN STREET
Reviewing Conn DOT accident statistics, the first location of note, three tenths of a mile north of the Bethel Town Line, is at the signalized intersection of Route 53 with Great Pasture Road, milepost 21.07.

Known historically as Carney’s Crossing, Great Pasture Road crosses the Danbury Branch Rail Line immediately adjacent to the intersection with Route 53. This rail line is owned by the State of Connecticut with passenger operations contracted to Metro North. There are no formalized turning lanes on any of the three intersection approaches.

At this intersection the Conn DOT Traffic Accident Surveillance Report (TASR) identified a modest rate of 53% for 1989-91, then 42% for 1992-94, but rising to 182% for 1995-97. HVCEO usually considers any rate over 90% to be of concern.

Safety conditions here have not yet deteriorated to the point where a Conn DOT SLOSSS designation is applied, which means over 100% on the TASR and also a high number of accidents. TASR rates here will be monitored to determine if this increase continues.

It should be stated that these useful Conn DOT hazard rating percentages are not to be considered as factual indicators of hazard but rather as suggestive of safety problem areas. As noted above these TASR statistics over 100% that are determined by Conn DOT to be the highest priorities have an additional "SLOSSS" designation (Suggested List of Surveillance Study Sites), not found here at Great Pasture Road.

Moving on up the roadway, it should be noted that in 1994 the City of Danbury installed a computerized signal system linking eleven intersections along the combined Main Street and South Street Route 53 corridor, with the signals at the intersection with Shelter Rock Road, at Route 53's milepost 21.56, included as the southern terminus. There are no TASR rates above 100% at this intersection.

Continuing on, to milepost 21.63 at the intersection of Route 53 with Starr Street, the rates were 66% for 1989-91, down to 26% for 1992-94, then up to 105% for the 1995-97 period. Landmarks are Nelson Motors on the northeast corner and the Zeller Truck Tire Center to the south.

North about 200 feet to the nearby intersection of Route 53 with Liberty Avenue, landmarks are the Super Value gas station and residences. TASR rates were 93% for 1989-91, 26% for 1994-96, then up to 117% for 1995-97.

Up until its intersection with Coal Pit Hill Road, Route 53 is designed with a basic two lane cross section. Then northerly from Coal Pit Hill Road to the signal at Memorial Drive the roadway incorporates a four thru lane cross section. This about one quarter mile of four lane cross section is also the highest volume segment of Route 53 in Danbury, at 22,100 for 1999, having even higher volumes than the 20,100 daily vehicles in the heart of Downtown Danbury about one half mile to the north.

The junction with Coal Pit Hill Road at milepost 21.89 is a major signalized intersection. Coal Pit Hill Road generally parallels Route 53 as a well used alternate routing for thru traffic to and from Bethel. Fortunately, the Route 53 intersection with Coal Pit Hill Road shows no Conn DOT TASR rates of concern.

As an historical note, back in the thirties Coal Pit Hill Road was a state route designated as Route 58A when the parallel routing of today’s Route 53 was designated as Route 58. Similarly, there was Route 202 and parallel Route 202A when that designation was utilized into the seventies, after which Coal Pit Hill Road was transferred from state to local jurisdiction.

But just to the north of the intersection with Coal Pit Hill Road, at milepost 21.92, is Route 53's intersection with Triangle Street. Here the 1989-91 accident rate was 51%,the 1992-94 accident rate climbed to 107%, and the rate for 1995-97 reached a high 254% with a SLOSSS designation.

The Triangle Street approach to Route 53 is signed for no left turn to Route 53 southbound. It also enters Route 53 at a non-standard angle. Landmarks here are a small grassy triangular park, a jewelry store and an ice cream shop across on the south side of Route 53.

Some initial geometric improvements were completed at this location in 1992. The Danbury Traffic Engineer’s assessment of October 1999 was that a second phase of geometric improvements for the Triangle Street intersection will be needed.

Moving along, from mileposts 22.01 to 22.11, Route 53 between a small local road known as South Avenue, which is just west of the signalized intersection with Town Hill Avenue, westerly to the signalized intersection at Memorial Drive, the 1995-97 accident rate was 184%, and also on the SLOSSS, the 1992-94 accident rate was a TASR 85%, and the 1989-1991 rate was 101% again with a SLOSSS designation.

Landmarks along this busy four lane section include Dunkin Donuts and the South Street School on the north side and on the south side JK’s Weiners restaurant followed by residences.

2. ROUTE 53 IN DANBURY (MAIN STREET)
FROM SOUTH STREET TO KEELER STREET
At this point Route 53 turns northwest for the remainder of its length. It now approaches Downtown Danbury and becomes Main Street. Starting here there is a serious accident rate for about three tenths of a mile northerly to the intersection with Elmwood Place and Park Place at Elmwood Park. Very attractive Elmwood Park has a traffic function as a long cylindrical divider separating Route 53 northbound from Route 53 southbound.

Major landmarks in the east side of Route 53 here are the ten story Kimberly Place elderly housing tower, a Super Foodmart store, and the eight story Danbury Towers elderly housing complex. On the west side is the five story Danbury Executive Office Tower building. Route 53 is quite wide here yet only striped for two lanes.

The 1995-97 accident rate on this three tenths of a mile segment was 235% with a SLOSSS designation, the 1992-94 TASR accident rate was down to 98% and the 1989-1991 rate was a SLOSSS 105%. Evidence of high hazard also appeared here in the mid-eighties, with the following SLOSSS designations on this segment; 1987-89 at 195%, 1983-85 at 179% and 1982-84 at 143%.

The Danbury and HVCEO long term policy for Route 53 capacity improvement here calls for restriping and minor widening to facilitate an expansion from 2 to 4 thru lanes, along the three tenths of a mile from Memorial Drive northerly to Elmwood Park. At Elmwood Park the widening would merge into an existing four lane cross section that proceeds north thru the Downtown.

At present, Route 53 northbound widens from one to two thru lanes alongside Elmwood Park just north of the Wooster Street intersection. Correspondingly, Route 53 southbound drops from two thru lanes to one at its intersection with Boughton Street, again alongside Elmwood Park.

A detailed examination of Conn DOT TASR accident rates and patterns here will be factored into any future expansion from two to four lanes. The Danbury Traffic Engineer advises that due to the relatively wide right of way along the third of a mile between Elmwood Park and Memorial Drive, many motorists already informally use this segment of Main Street as if it were four lanes.

At the Route 53 intersections with Elmwood Place and Park Place, both aside Elmwood Park which as already noted serves as a large median divider here, Conn DOT TASR rates have been rising over the last decade. Landmarks on the west are Bishop Curtis Homes and the Danbury Senior Center, and on the east the Fairfield County Court House and a Walgreens store. For Elmwood place and Park place the period 1989-91 showed 32%, the years 1992-94 34%, then 1995-97 rose to 137% with a SLOSSS designation.

Just to the north Wooster Street cuts through Elmwood Park, creating two signalized intersections, at Route 53 northbound and at Route 53 southbound. There are continuous SLOSSS designations here, with the 1995-97 accident rate at 257%, the 1992-1994 rate 283%, and between 1989-1991 357%.

Listing on the Conn DOT high accident inventory list is also seen in the mid-eighties, all SLOSSS, with 1987-89 at 273%, 1983-85 at 214% and 1982-84 at 182%. These closely related intersections were first signalized in the mid-1990's. The award winning redesign of Elmwood Park in the late nineties also had as an objective the proper channeling of pedestrian movements here. Conn DOT TASR accident rates will be monitored to determine the safety benefit of these signalization and pedestrian improvements.

Between State Street on the east of Elmwood Park northerly to Boughton Street on the west, Route 53 TASR rates shows 54% for 1989-91, then an even lower 38% for 1992-94, but rising to 140% for 1995-97.

At milepost 22.58, Route 53-Main Street at its intersection with Boughton Street, the 1995-97 accident rate was 323% and SLOSSS designated, one of the top 10 worst of the 94 SLOSSS designated sites in the Region for 1995-97. The 1992-94 accident rate was 112%, and for 1989-91 69%, thus documenting a continuous rise.

The Danbury Traffic Engineer indicated in October of 1999 that Route 53 lane striping designations had recently been improved here, including for the northbound left turn into Boughton Street. Landmarks at Boughton Street include the Danbury Police Department building and stately Saint Peter’s Roman Catholic Church across Route 53 to the east.

North of Boughton Street Route 53 remains divided by a grassy median, with breaks, northerly thru the Downtown area to Kennedy Avenue, this feature and adjacent traditional style d streetscaping added in 1993.

A purpose of the median on Route 53 here was to reduce the distance a pedestrian must travel to reach a safe location when crossing, providing a refuge if needed when half way across. The median also prevents some problematic vehicle movements such as U turns and are a pressure against double parking.

Between Center Street and Keeler Street, both approaching Route 53 from the east, TASR rates are rising, with 57% for 1989-91, 75% for 1992-94, and then up to 124% for 1995-97. At the intersection of Route 53 with Keeler Street and Bank Street, first signalized near 1985, rates have been 59% for 1989-91, 48% for 1992-94, then for 1995-97 165% with a Conn DOT SLOSSS designation.

Proceeding northward into the heart of Downtown Danbury, there is an almost continuous chain of problematic SLOSSS rates documented for the 1995-97 period. Due to their small segmentation, for ease of analysis only 1995-97 data is cited from this point northward.

From Bank Street northerly to West and Liberty Streets, which is the central intersection of the downtown business district, there is a SLOSSS rate of 229%. The intersection of Route 53 with West Street and Liberty Street is separately rated at 230% SLOSSS, both high rates.

It is interesting to note that before I-84 was completed thru Danbury in the early sixties, combined Route 6 and Route 7 thru traffic entered Downtown from West Street, turned north on Route 53, then east on White Street.

3. DOWNTOWN ACCESS ISSUES
The capacity of the traffic links between Downtown Danbury northerly to I-84 Exits 5 and 6 is a critical and highest priority issue for both the City of Danbury and the entire Housatonic Valley Region. This is not a new concern. For example, a 1961 traffic report sponsored by the City of Danbury and the Danbury Chamber of Commerce examined a possible I-84 spur route into Downtown Danbury and on to South Street.

A 1977 Danbury Planning Department proposal recommended Main Street be routed one way southbound and Maple Avenue one way northbound. A subsequent Danbury planning process examined the possibility of a parallel corridor on the east side of Main Street. This second idea came to fruition in a 1981 citywide traffic plan, after which Balmforth Avenue and Maple Avenue were converted to a one way pair to expand north-south capacity for thru traffic as a parallel corridor to Route 53.

Today, this traditional Danbury to I-84 need is focused as priority for the improvement of I-84 Exits 5 and 6, to facilitate their capacity to serve Downtown via both Route 53-Main Street and the Balmforth Avenue-Maple Avenue one way pair accessing Route 37.

Downtown Danbury has also seen some significant changes in its internal circulation planning over the years. A new four lane roadway named Patriot Drive, parallel to Main Street-Route 53 and running from Liberty Street northerly to White Street, opened in 1975. This redevelopment era investment gave better distribution to Downtown traffic flows and removed some traffic from Route 53.

Then Liberty Street, linking Route 53 to the new Patriot Drive was itself realigned and expanded from two lanes to four. This was a federally funded investment given top HVCEO priority until it opened in the early eighties.

4. ROUTE 53 IN DANBURY (MAIN STREET) FROM
LIBERTY STREET TO ROUTE 37 (NORTH STREET)
Continuing with 1995-97 Conn DOT data, the segment from Liberty Street to Chapel Place in the heart of the Downtown is at 196% SLOSSS, then Chapel Place to Library Place has a brief respite from the seriousness of SLOSSS as it is designated with a lesser TASR rate of 114%.

Library Place itself was at 237% for 1995-97, then the Library Place to White Street segment of Main Street was a high 372% SLOSSS, one of the top 10 in the Region (out of 94 SLOSSS designated) for the period.

The Main Street intersection with White and Elm Streets receives a 1995-97 SLOSSS of 140%. After that there is a brief respite on the short segment up to Kennedy Avenue and Crosby Street, a segment which has a modest TASR of 61%. The Crosby Street intersection with Route 53 itself then receives a SLOSSS of 109%.

The 1993 streetscaping project terminated on the north side of the Kennedy Avenue and Main Street intersection, and a grassed median barrier in Route 53 terminates about one hundred feet further north.

Relevant to the remainder of Route 53 in Danbury (North Main Street) was a regional competition of April 1999 in which Danbury was awarded $1,073,000 in federal transportation funding for the streetscape enhancement of the pedestrian environment along Route 53 from the intersection with Kennedy Avenue northerly to the intersection with Route 37, a distance of about one half mile.

The City of Danbury’s 1998 "Main Street North Streetscape Enhancement Plan" calls for additional crosswalks, pedestrian enhancements and beautification at Route 53 intersections along this segment. While other state roadway improvement components could not be funded as part of the Enhancement grant, to the extent feasible the design will seek to improve the safety of both pedestrians and traffic. The Conn DOT project number as of 12/1999 is 34-H046.

It should be noted that the four lane cross section for Route 53 from approximately Kennedy Avenue north to approximately I-84 dates only from the very late seventies, when a roadway striping plan for four thru lane use during peak hours was introduced.

Moving north the Kennedy Avenue to Rose Street segment receives a 227% SLOSSS, and the Rose Street signalized intersection itself receives a 106% SLOSSS. This is followed by a respite as over the railroad tracks between Rose and Franklin Street there is a TASR of only 52%.

The rail line and its freight operations are owned by the Danbury Terminal Railroad.

Fortunately for Route 53 traffic flows the number of large and frequent freight trains crossing here was greatly curtailed after the demise of the Poughkeepsie Bridge over the Hudson in the later seventies.

Landmarks before the railroad tracks here on the east are the News Times and Lighthouse Ministries buildings, and on the west the CT Department of Social Services and Elks Club buildings.

The signalized intersection of Franklin Street, East Franklin Street and Garamella Boulevard is at 220% SLOSSS. Landmarks here are the Franklin Books and Horn’s Variety buildings.

Importantly, as part of the upcoming enhancement plan, a median barrier will be introduced in the center of Route 53 on both the north and south approaches to the Franklin Street, East Franklin Street, Garamella Boulevard intersection. This should assist in organizing traffic flows and reducing accidents at this location. Also, on street parking will be formalized on the east side from East Franklin Street northerly to Patch Street.

East Franklin Street north to Robinson Street is at 238% SLOSSS. Moving north, the intersection of Route 53 with Robinson Avenue is rated at 165% with a SLOSSS designation. The landmark here is Saint Joseph’s Roman Catholic Church on the southwest corner of Route 53 and Robinson Avenue. The segment between Robinson Avenue to Patch Street then receives a respite, with low TASR rates.

But at the Main Street, Patch Street and Clifton Place intersection there is yet another SLOSSS at 278%. The landmark here is the Taco Bell restaurant to the west. The Danbury Traffic Engineer advised in October of 1999 that it may be advisable to designate Patch Street as one way eastbound away from Main Street.

The block between Clifton Place and North Street falls to 145% TASR, with the intersection with Routes 37, 39 and 841 itself rating at 107% TASR for 1995-97. Route 53 terminates at this intersection with Routes 37, 39 and 841, with the continuing roadway becoming Route 39.