#Middlebury #Exit17
By MARJORIE NEEDHAM
One hundred or more people packed the auditorium at Shepardson Community Center Thursday night, Sept. 5, to see the Connecticut Department of Transportation’s (DOT) presentation on proposed changes to the Interstate 84 Exit 17. Following the presentation, the most-mentioned concern for the three-year-long construction project expressed during public comments was the noise it will generate.
A woman from Waterbury also mentioned noise – from an entirely different project. Rita Green said the owner of 18.8 acres listed as on Chase Parkway (starting beyond the legal offices at the corner of routes 63 and 64 east almost to Chase Parkway) has a proposal before the Waterbury Zoning Commission for earth excavation, which she said will involve extensive blasting and hundreds of truck trips to haul away rock. She said the excavation is for a 30-unit housing project on the site. The hearing on that project has been continued to Sept. 27, 2019.
Those who missed last week’s DOT presentation on Exit 17 can see it this week in Waterbury, where it will be repeated for Waterbury residents. The Waterbury hearing will be Tuesday, Sept. 10, at Crosby High School at 300 Pierpont Road in Waterbury.
During Thursday’s presentation, Project Manager Ron Dagan said the intersection at routes 63 and 64 has seen 66 crashes in the last four years. He said many are rear-end crashes due to line of sight issues. And he said the steep northbound turn off Route 63 is a problem. The project is meant to improve safety and traffic flow in that area. A virtual tour of the project is at vtour.123bim.com/AADT.
With few exceptions, those who chose to comment Thursday night expressed concerns about noise. Nancy Bailey of White Avenue said her major concern was the noise impact on residents. She also expressed concern about vandalism in the area and the possibility the proposed 120-car commuter lot at the corner of Straits Turnpike and the proposed Chase Parkway Extension would contribute to increased vandalism in the area. “What about my community,” she asked. “You may think you are improving things but what about the people who live here?” She wanted to know if the DOT was going to do anything about the noise.
Gail Banwell of Mirey Dam Road said something has to be done about the noise impact. She said over the last 20 years noise from I-84 has really reached a crescendo and sound mitigation hasn’t been talked about yet by the DOT. She said she hears air brakes 24 hours a day, seven days a week. “Please include sound mitigation to the largest extent possible,” she said.
Traffic concerns also were mentioned, with those owning properties at the intersection or near it telling officials just getting out of their properties onto Route 64 is a challenge right now. They were concerned the proposed additional lanes will make an already-difficult situation worse. And a property owner on Straits Turnpike was concerned widening that stretch south of the intersection will mean more crashes will end up on her property. Jacqueline Santiago said cars already have crashed into the owners’ vehicles parked in their driveway. “We can barely handle one lane crashes,” she said.
Following the presentation, we asked Principal Engineer Susan Libatique about noise mitigation. She said “Noise is a consideration. We’re not locked into this design. There is always room for improvement depending on the comments.” She said federal regulations determine when noise mitigation is required, and an initial noise study was done.
Look for additional reporting on this issue following the Sept. 10 hearing.
