1. INTRO2. DOWNTOWN 3. GROVE STREET4. BOARDMAN ROAD 5. PATRIOTS WAY
6. EAST - WEST CONNECTOR7. HOUSATONIC BRIDGES 8. TRAFFIC IMPROVEMENT

DOWNTOWN POLICY GUIDE
The municipal guide plan for traffic and streetscape improvements in Downtown New Milford, including revisions to parking and circulation, may be found in the 1996 “Downtown New Milford Study.”

This municipal planning document includes a policy map of “Possible Roadway and Circulation improvements.” Included here are the reconfiguration of on street parking, some since completed, relocation of the break in the Town Green northerly to Boardman Avenue, since completed, interior parking lot connections, streetscape, and the formalizing of pedestrian walkways.

A traffic management recommendation in the 1996 Downtown Study calls for the intersection of Main Street, Bennitt Street, Aspetuck Avenue and Elm Street at the head of the Green to be evaluated for possible signalization. This has not yet been initiated.

Looking south at intersection of (West) Main Street,
Bennitt Street, Aspetuck Avenue and Elm Street.

BRIDGE STREET
SIGNAL COORDINATION
While Bridge Street (combined Routes 67 and 202) is the busiest Downtown artery in the Downtown, up until recently its signalized intersections had never been evaluated as a system with the goal of upgrading signal hardware and introducing coordination that would improve traffic efficiency.

A study on this topic was completed by HVCEO in 2004. It is summarized below and the detailed report is also available, along with an instructional overview of traffic signal coordination concepts.

Starting from the west, the intersection of Bridge Street with Route 7 is signalized with a fully actuated controller. Signals are also located at its intersection with West Street, Railroad Street/Middle Street, and West Main Street/South Main Street.

Bridge Street's intersection with Route 67/Route 202 is controlled by STOP signs, but will be signalized in the future and turn lanes will be added as part of the Grove Street relocation project. Below are the key conclusions from the HVCEO's recent traffic signal coordination plan for Bridge Street:

1) Adding signal coordination on Bridge Street will move traffic more efficiently through downtown New Milford. Technical SYNCHRO modeling analyses indicate that average travel time and delay is reduced while average travel speed is increased along Bridge Street in both directions. Specifically, a ten percent reduction in travel time with traffic signal coordination will result in an eastbound travel time of 1.5 minutes and a westbound travel time of 2.5 minutes.

Bridge Street, New Milford, CT

2) Time based coordination may be provided instead of a physical interconnect.

3) Eastbound left turning traffic from Route 202/Bridge Street queues at the Young’s Field Road intersection and causes a back-up on the Veterans Bridge. This will require the elimination of the eastbound left turn (or rerouting it) to accommodate future traffic growth.

4) As traffic volumes increase along the Bridge Street corridor and increase congestion and delay, alternate connections from Route 7 to Route 202 bypassing downtown New Milford will be needed.

5) The proposed roadway improvement projects in Downtown New Milford may affect travel patterns in the area and therefore, may require some changes in timings and coordination.

6) This plan should be submitted to Conn DOT for Federal CMAQ funding for implementation.

TRAFFIC ORIGIN AND
DESTINATION SURVEY
A persistent theme in New Milford planning is the goal of diverting thru traffic passing through the heart of the Downtown, aside the Town Green, which bisects Main Street.

To better understand this problem and plan for traffic signal and other changes, a vehicle origin and destination survey was conducted by HVCEO during the weekday peak 7:00 A.M. to 9:00 A.M. period on Wednesday, April 10, 2002.

The origin point for the survey, as shown by the red circle on the figure below, is on the north edge of the Downtown at the Route 202/Elm Street intersection. All license plate data was recorded in the southbound direction from that point.

* The "Red Band" indicates that approximately 30% of the southbound traffic which originates at the Route 202/Elm Street intersection traverses west through Elm Street and then stops in Downtown New Milford;

* The “Yellow Band” indicates that approximately 6% of origin point traffic destined towards Route 7 travels through Downtown New Milford without stopping. Combined with the 36% from the Orange Band below, this is a total of 42% of traffic from the origin point seeking Route 7.

* The “Orange Band” indicates that of the 36% of origin point traffic destined towards Route 7 and not passing thru the heart of Downtown via Main Street West, 12% uses the Bennitt Street/Railroad Street/Bridge Street combination to do so and the remaining 24% uses the combination of East Street/Bridge Street;

* The “Purple Band” indicates that approximately 16% of origin point traffic proceeds directly south down East Street towards Route 67/Grove Street. Once there, most of this traffic, 14%, veers right to continue south on Grove Street, while the remaining 2% continues on Route 67 southeasterly; and,

* The “Green Band” indicates that approximately 12 % of the origin point traffic is destined towards Route 67/Grove Street but detours via Elm Street/Main Street/Bridge Street. This is a more round about route to the same destination as reached by the Purple Band traffic above. The advantage is use of the signal light at Bridge Street. Once there the split is 10% for Grove Street and 2% for Route 67 southeasterly, similar to the split for the Purple Band.

In sum, Red Band 30%, Orange Band 36%, Yellow Band 6%, Purple Band 16%, and Green Band 12% total to 100%.

In overview, 42% of the southbound traffic on Route 202 from north of Elm Street is oriented towards Route 7. Approximately 30% of the southbound traffic on Route 202 from north of Elm Street currently travels through Main Street West into Downtown New Milford where the trips end.

Then approximately 28% of the southbound traffic on Route 202 is oriented south towards Route 67 and Grove Street. The three percentages in bold above total to 100%.

Closely related to Downtown traffic flow problems is the proposed Grove Street Bypass, on the southeastern edge of the Downtown area.

TRAFFIC VOLUME COUNTS
A data base of volume and turning movement counts is available from 1995. This critical planning information can be updated for comparative purposes in a future year.

1. INTRO2. DOWNTOWN 3. GROVE STREET4. BOARDMAN ROAD 5. PATRIOTS WAY
6. EAST - WEST CONNECTOR7. HOUSATONIC BRIDGES 8. TRAFFIC IMPROVEMENT