Another intersection slated for overhaul

A congested intersection at the base of Union Street is likely to get a multi-million dollar makeover in a few years.

The city recently approved a $350,000 redesign of the jagged junction of South, Church and Union streets.

“It’s really a quagmire there, especially at rush hour,” Mayor Art Ward said Tuesday.

The project should get underway in about three years, Public Works Director Walter Veselka said.

Veselka said the federal government will pay 80 percent of the cost of the work, with the state and the city each picking up 10 percent of the total tab.

The proposed work is part of a long-term effort to fix troubled intersections across town, including the ongoing reconstruction of the south end of Union Street.

Other projects that are already finished include remaking the junction of Brook and Mix streets with Farmington Avenue and redoing the intersection of Stafford Avenue and Washington Street.

Ward said the problems at the South, Church and Union streets intersection remind him of the tie-ups on Farmington Avenue where Stafford Avenue crosses it.

“People get hung up at that intersection” just like the one at the end of Union Street, the mayor said.

The city set aside $200,000 for the design work last year. Board of Finance commissioners recently agreed to chip in another $155,000 to pay the rest of the tab.

Once the project is done, Ward said, traffic ought to “flow more freely” on South and Union Streets.

The worst time of day now, Ward said, is about 4:45 or 5 p.m. when commuters get backed up across the intersection and wind up blocking Union and Church streets, too.

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Copyright 2009. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

Troubled intersection to get fix starting in July

A long-awaited intersection fix at the southern end of Union Street may be underway next month.
The $2.5 million project would replace the current intersection of East Road with Union and Wolcott streets in a bid to slow down traffic and make it safer for drivers and children walking to and from nearby South Side School.
“It’s going to contribute greatly to the safety of that intersection, which has been very hazardous,” Mayor Art Ward said.
State Rep. Frank Nicastro, a Bristol Democrat whose 79th District includes the junction, said, “It needed to be done and now it’s going to come to pass. It’s finally falling into place.”
Nicastro called it “one of the most hazardous intersections in the city of Bristol by far.”
“When you try to pull out of East Road, it’s a terrible line of sight,” he said.
The proposed changes would straighten and flatten the area where the roads come together, removing the buildings that block the way.
“It’s going to get a complete new facelift,” Nicastro said.
The Cheshire-based Milone & MacBroom got $118,000 from the city to carry out the design work several years ago.
The project has been in the works for years, but got bumped up in priority in the late 1990s after more than 250 neighbors submitted petitions to the city asking for quick action to fix the intersection.
The Central Connecticut Regional Planning Agency, which targets projects throughout the region to figure out which local road updates are the most important, cited the need to fix the East Road, Union and Wolcott junction as its number one priority in Bristol almost a decade ago.
The plan generally calls for shifting the southern end of Union Street to the east so it would intersect only with East Road.
East Road alone would run into Wolcott Street, a bit south of the current spot where the three roads come together.
The city and state have been targeting misaligned intersections in Bristol for years, trying to fix them where possible.
Nicastro, a former mayor, said he’s been checking on the status of the project for a long time.
He said he recently got word from the state Department of Transportation that a contract had been awarded and construction may begin in early July.
“It’s an intersection that needs to be done,” Nicastro said.
The federal government would pay 80 percent of the final tab with the state picking up the rest.
The project has been talked about for the last 42 years. Officials said the issue first reached City Hall’s agenda in 1966, when initial maps were made.
Nicastro, who also serves on the City Council, said he’s always worried about the children going to school and having to cross the dangerous intersection.
“You have to be truly a brave person to be a crossing guard there,” Nicastro said.

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Copyright 2008. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com