Contents
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1. Introduction --- 2.
Roadway System
3a. I- 84 ---
3b.
RT 7 South --- 3c.
RT 7 North
4. Projects by Municipality --- 5.
Bus Plan --- 6.
Rail Plan
Other Elements 7a, 7b,
7c, 7d,
7e
--- 8.
Resource Center
RIDESHARING
SERVICES
Publicly subsidized ridesharing services are provided by
Metropool, Inc. The service area combines southwestern
Connecticut (including the Housatonic Valley Planning Region)
and nearby counties in New York State.
This long established ridesharing service offers both employers
and employees a wealth of information and services to find
the best and most economical way to work.

Metropool
services include car, van and shuttle formation, ride matching
services, on site technical assistance, guaranteed ride home
programs, how-to guides and other related aids. Metropool,
Inc. can be contacted at One Landmark Square, Stamford, CT,
06901, at 1-800-FIND RIDE, and via the web link above.
COMMUTER PARKING LOTS
For those area residents seeking
to reduce the expense of daily commuting, the alternative
of carpooling from a commuter lot is attractive. These lots
also serve as pick-up points for commuter van and HART bus
services.
Since
1973 the Connecticut DOT has been establishing state maintained
parking lots adjacent to the more important roadways throughout
the State. Currently nine of Connecticut's
commuter parking facilities are located
in three of the communities of the Housatonic Valley Region,
as follows:
1.
Danbury: 160 spaces on Route 6 near I-84 Exit 1
2. Danbury: 112 spaces on Route 6 near I-84 Exit 2
3. Danbury: 50 spaces on Segar Street near I-84 Exit 7
4. Danbury: 171 spaces on Miry Brook Road at Route 7
5. Danbury: 115 spaces on Route 805 - Federal Road
6. Danbury: 75 spaces on Route 840 - White Turkey Road
7. New Milford: 87 spaces on Pickett District Road
8. Newtown: 53 spaces on Route 25 near I-84 Exit 9
9. Newtown: 78 Spaces on Mile Hill Road at I-84 Exit 11
In 2000
the Housatonic Area Regional Transit District completed a
detailed assessment of conditions and needs at each commuter
parking lot. This report is available at HVCEO.
Adding
additional spaces to the regional inventory is now the goal.
There are clear constraints to further progress, however,
as lot development is tied to the presence of state owned
land in suitable locations. Further suitable state properties
appear to be limited.
Conn DOT
leasing of properties could then become the primary method
by which the amount of commuter parking space is further expanded.
But this process will be more costly per space developed than
for those developed on state properties to date.
Note that some of these problems have been successfully addressed
by CT DOT and HART for commuter shuttles to the Harlem passenger
rail line from New Fairfield, Danbury and Ridgefield.
INTELLIGENT TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS (ITS)
During recent years much has been done to promote the efficiency
of transportation systems through modern electronic tools.
This area of technological innovation is known as Intelligent
Transportation Systems (ITS).
Traffic
congestion and accident surveillance systems, live traffic
cams for public and management use, highway advisory radio,
clearinghouses for traveler information, and signal system
interconnections are all major strategies to wring more capacity
out of existing facilities.
Private
enterprise is developing personal information services on
the Internet that meet this need as well.

To enhance
the public's ability to read and use intelligent transportation
systems, all federally funded initiatives must conform to
the National ITS Architecture Consistency Policy.
In Connecticut, ITS strategies for the largest urban areas
and for the Interstate 95 and Interstate 91 corridors have
been priorities. Initiation by Conn DOT of activities for
the I-84 corridor and mid-sized regions such as the Housatonic
Valley are following. A summary of ITS activities in this
planning region:
CT DOT I-84 and Route 7 Video Cams: The traffic
camera images available below are updated approximately every
five minutes. To refresh the image, refresh your browser.

I-84
Newtown eastbound east of Exit 9 - Tunnel Road
I-84
Danbury westbound east of Exit 6 - Rockwell Road
I-84
Danbury westbound Exit 6 - Rt. 37 (North Street)
I-84
Danbury eastbound Exit 5 - Starr Avenue
I-84
Danbury eastbound Exit 4 - Lake Avenue
CT 7 Danbury northbound south of I-84 - Park Avenue
CT
DOT I-84 Variable Message Signs: In 2009 CT DOT installed
five portable variable message signs with closed circuit television
and two without closed circuit. The devices were installed
on concrete platforms located on I-84 in the Greater Danbury
area.
CITY
of Danbury Video Cams: The leading municipal intelligent
transportation system in the region is that maintained by
the City of Danbury. Live traffic can be monitored on its
citywide
video cam system.

City of Danbury video cam locations.
HVCEO
Signal Coordination Studies: Improved signal coordination
throughout the Region has been pursued via an HVCEO regional
signal system coordination plan. The document includes a Traffic
Signal Coordination Handbook as well as detailed
coordination plans for Backus
Avenue in Danbury and Bridge
Street in New Milford.
HVCEO
- COGCNV I-84 Traffic Diversion Plan:
This
study will be completed in 2011 in cooperation with CT DEMHS,
CT DOT, COGCNV and local emergency management officials.
It
will serve as the guide during I-84 traffic emergencies. Diversion
plans for other expressways in Connecticut are available from
the
CRCOG Diversion Plans page.

Future
Intelligent Transportation Systems:
For
future ITS, one possibility is for electronic information
signs at the Downtown Danbury HART Pulse Point, if city sign
regulations can be met. Also, bus signal preemption in certain
corridors may be a regional strategy.
GOODS MOVEMENT BY TRUCK AND RAIL
It is generally known that the freight transportation industry
in the United States has undergone dramatic changes in the
last twenty years. Developments in “containerization”,
shifts in the manufacturing industry to “just-in-time”
delivery; the deregulation of rail, trucking and aviation
industries, and the development of new trading patterns in
a global economy have led to consolidation and restructuring
of freight transportation modes.
The development
of expressways such as I-84 and I-95, the trend toward larger
and heavier trucks, more time-sensitive shipping requirements,
increasing competition, and railroad branch line reductions
have contributed to the trucking industry attracting a large
market share of goods movements. But, while the number of
truck trips is increasing, the average length of such trips
is decreasing.
On the
national scene many shippers are using more cost-effective
rail, air or water transport for the long-haul portion of
freight delivery, with trucking firms supplying the pick up
and delivery portion of trips rather than supplying end-to-end
service. Thus truck/intermodal traffic has increased dramatically
in recent years and should continue to increase.

According
to Conn DOT, Connecticut, because of its small geographic
area and its close proximity to some of the nation’s
largest ports, intermodal rail facilities and airports, can
expect to continue to see primarily the truck portions of
intermodal freight trips.
According
to Conn DOT, most rail shipments entering Connecticut fall
within a limited range of bulk commodities such as crushed
stone, lumber, rolled paper, steel, chemicals, and waste products.
The manufacturing and distribution companies who currently
receive these goods by rail accept significantly longer shipment
times than would be required for truck shipment of their low-value,
non-time-sensitive raw materials and products.
See also
the HVCEO Rail
Freight in the Region report.
TRAVEL BY BICYCLE
A detailed
HVCEO report on bicycle planning and criteria was
adopted by the Council in 1996.

This was
used successfully to insure sufficient shoulder width for
bicycles in the Route 7 Danbury - Ridgefield roadway widening
project and as an input to municipal plans of conservation
and development.
See also the Connecticut
Statewide Bicycle and Pedestrian Plan.

Excerpt
from the CT 2009 Bicycle Map
AIR SERVICE
Danbury Municipal Airport
Danbury Airport has no regular public air passenger service,
except to Cape Cod and related tourist destinations in the
summer.
The following text is taken from
the 2002 Danbury Plan of Conservation and Development:
Danbury
Municipal Airport is the base for corporate air fleets, a
flight school, and a number of aviation services, and consists
of two intersecting runways and the control tower.
The
airport is used exclusively for private flights and is protected
from land use intrusions by the Airport Protection Zone in
the zoning regulations. This zone is intended to reduce hazards
in the approach and transition zones by controlling building
area and height.

Danbury
Municipal Airport
The
1995 Danbury Airport Master Plan offers three land use and
zoning recommendations to further the protective envelope:
(1) the City should acquire land or easements along the residentially
zoned portion of Miry Brook Road to control the height of
vegetation; (2) permitted land uses around the airport should
be restricted to avoid new land use conflicts; and, (3) the
Airport Protection Zone regulations should be updated to conform
to current airspace standards. The airport has no plans to
expand its current boundaries.
The
airport's greatest negative impact on the community is the
noise associated primarily with the flight school. This is
especially severe during summer weekends and has its greatest
impact on the Wooster Heights neighborhood.
To
minimize this negative impact, many airports around the region
institute noise abatement policies that impose curfews during
those hours when noise is most likely to disturb residential
neighborhoods, policies that could be considered by the Airport
Authority.
Candlelight
Farms Airport
As for the small Candlelight Farms Airport in western New
Milford, it has two turf runways and no control tower. The
largest runway is 2,000 feet, aircraft parking is via tiedowns,
and there are about 33 aircraft based at this field.

Source:
The Kathryn Report
Candlelight
Farms Airport in New Milford
Stewart International
Airport
The international airport options for Greater Danbury can
be viewed by size. Kennedy Airport has 42 million passengers
annually, La Guardia 23 million, Bradley 6.7 million and Stewart
300,000.
Early in 2007 the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey,
which owns Kennedy and La Guardia, purchased Stewart Airport.
The Port Authority goal is to shift some air traffic north
to Stewart.
As Stewart in Newburgh, NY is about 40 miles west of Danbury
we are the market and air service development there serves
our interests. A direct exit to Stewart Airport from I-84
is also planned.
Contents
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4. -- 5.
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