Joe Balskus of Vanasse Hangen Brustlin presented a draft of a traffic study during a Trumbull community facilities building committee meeting Wednesday.
Andy Tsubasa FieldTRUMBULL — A Church Hill Road traffic study concluded that the area sees about 10,000 vehicles per day. But critics point out that the study took place over a week that included a holiday weekend, and was not necessarily indicative of normal traffic.
Town officials recently reviewed the study as part of a proposed senior and community center in the Hardy Lane area. The proposed facility would include a gym, library, activity rooms and a cafe. It would also include 135 parking spaces.
The Vanasse Hangen Brustlin Inc., a Massachusetts-based engineering firm, presented a draft of the study. The Trumbull Community Facilities Building Committee members expect to hear the final version at a future meeting.
Last month, the company studied traffic at the Hardy Lane intersection, located along Church Hill Road, and a similar community center in Woodbridge called the JCC of Greater New Haven.
The study estimates the planned facility will generate 113 new vehicle trips during weekday morning peak hours. For weekday evening peak hours, it expects about 310 vehicle trips. Saturday midday peak hours are expected to generate about 74 new vehicle trips, according to the study.
Engineers say morning weekday peak hours are typically between 7 a.m. to 9 a.m., while evening weekday peak hours were between 4 a.m. to 6 p.m. They also view typical midday weekend peak hours as between 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
The estimate was based on traffic data from the Woodbridge community center. Engineers conducted a count at the center on Feb. 16 and Feb. 18, which was during the Presidents Day weekend.
The study recommended the removal of a large tree on town-owned property at Hardy Lane to make sure drivers are able to see a longer length of road ahead of them. The study also calls for either widening Hardy Lane to add a lane or realigning it, improvements it said would increase the number of vehicles that can queue to exit the road onto Church Hill Road.
During the presentation, the committee viewed recent crash data by the location of the proposed facility. According to the study, there were two vehicle crashes on Church Hill Road between 2020 and 2022. One of them resulted in a death.
Bonita Avenue, which is located across Hardy Lane and also feeds into Church Hill Lane, has seen four crashes.
Joe Balskus of Vanasse Hangen Brustlin said engineers conducted traffic counts of Church Hill Road last month beginning from Feb. 15 to Feb. 23, which included Presidents Day weekend. Average daily traffic on the road was 10,000 vehicles, the presentation said.
Resident Richard White expressed concern with the study being conducted over the Presidents Day weekend. He said Trumbull schools were closed on Friday and Monday, while Woodbridge schools were open Thursday and Friday, but closed Monday and Tuesday.
“The data for that was unfortunate timing,” White said in an interview. “The two towns had totally different and not overlapping school closure days.”
In response, Balskus told committee members that the project faced staffing problems.
Even so, town officials asked for a repeat of the Church Hill Road count on dates that don't conflict with a holiday weekend, which Balskus agreed to.
Chairwoman Lori Hayes-O’Brien also said she wants the traffic study to include more weekend traffic data.
“We’re building this as a community center. So there will be some weekend activity,” Hayes-O’Brien said.
She also pushed for the study to expand to nearby roads feeding into Church Hill Road, such as Middlebrooks Avenue, which includes the Middlebrook elementary school.
The final report will be heard at an undetermined date by building committee members before it and an environmental study is presented to the town council.
Andy.Field@hearstmediact.com
Twitter:@AndyTsubasaF