Council Discusses Dangerous Alumni Road Intersection
NEWINGTON - I only left Newington High School via Alumni Road once, last winter after covering a high school hockey game at Newington Arena.

       I waited for what felt like five minutes with my left blinker on, looking out for an opening between three lanes of constant traffic along Cedar Street before giving up and making a right--I was never good at the video game Frogger and, in the past 10 years, 250 motorists who have tried their hand at Newington’s own real life version of it, lost.

       That’s the number of car accidents that have occurred at the intersection during that period, according to Newington Police Chief Richard Mulhall, who revealed that statistic at the Sept. 23 Town Council meeting.

       â€"Out of that, 33 are major injuries,” Mulhall told the Council.

       Most of the accidents were T-bones, he said.

       â€"There’s too many lanes to cross,” Mulhall said. â€"They get waved out [by one motorist] and the next person doesn’t see and they get T-boned.”

       Richard Klett, director of residency and security for Newington schools, described it as â€"one of the more dangerous stretches of streets” in town.

       â€"When my kids were in school, that was one of the streets I said you don’t exit the high school from,” Klett said.

       Both Mulhall and Klett attended the Council meeting for a discussion about changing that.

       Newington, in partnership with the state Department of Transportation (DOT), is looking to redesign the intersection with traffic signals and a dedicated left-hand turn lane, although no formal plan has been established up to this point, according to Economic Development Director Andy Brecher.

       And the DOT might foot the bill for the project, with the exception of one component--the cost of hiring a traffic engineer. This is projected to be less than $15,000, according to Town Manager John Salomone.

       â€"We’re looking at it primarily as a safety improvement,” Salomone said. â€"That is a primary direction that a lot of students after school proceed in.”

       And it’s a hub for afterschool activities as well, with Newington Arena and the high school’s football field nearby, Salomone said.

       While mitigating the danger posed by traffic is the main priority, redesigning the intersection may make way for some economic development opportunities as well, Brecher said. Ironically, it was the latter that gave the town some leverage to pursue the former, he said.

       â€"We opened the door with an economic development issue,” Brecher said.

       And that’s a door that has been shut for almost 10 years. In 2005 the town and DOT were approaching the closure of a deal that would have reconfigured Maple Hill Avenue and Alumni Road to line up with one another, taking two houses on Arrowhead Drive by eminent domain in the process. Prompted by public opposition to the project, Newington opted out of the deal.

       â€"After that, there has not been any progress,” Brecher said.

       A safer intersection might be more attractive to businesses looking to move into the area, especially if the state removes the barrier that currently splits Alumni Road and prevents traffic from flowing through from Willard Avenue, he said.

       But could economic development in the area make the traffic situation worse? Councilor Beth McDonald asked.

       â€"By solving one safety problem, are we creating another?” McDonald said. â€"Are we creating more traffic while adding traffic safety measures?”
MORE NEWINGTON NEWS  |  STORY BY MARK DIPAOLA  |  Oct 09 2014  |  COMMENTS?