Draft

Town of Mansfield Traffic Authority

Minutes of the Meeting – September 22, 2009

Present:  Hart, Jackman, Meitzler, Hultgren, Hanley (guest – Storrs Heights)

Pedestrian Awareness Campaign – no progress.  Coordination with UConn’s efforts is still to be determined.

Centerline Road Striping – James Hanley of Storrs Heights Road addressed the members with reasons why the centerline of Flaherty Road should not be restriped.  He said that local streets like Flaherty Road should be shared by all its users and not striped for the convenience of the motorists using this road as the stripes tend to pull vehicles closer to the edges of the road where pedestrians walk.  He suggested that “shared streets” is a concept that is gaining favor across the country and suggested the Authority research this before deciding to restripe Flaherty Road.  Members present questioned Mr. Hanley and disagreed that striping speeds up traffic on the road as striping has been shown to reduce accidents and slow traffic.  After considerable discussion, the Authority voted to temporarily defer the striping of Flaherty Road pending staff’s research into centerline striping and the shared streets concept as it applies to this situation.

Clover Mill Road/195 Bus Stop Relocation – no progress.

Eastwood Road sign and crosswalk request – Authority members had an opportunity to view the Eastwood/Hillside Circle intersection at peak afternoon/evening drive times and did not feel that the requested crosswalk (across Eastwood Road) was needed.  It was felt that the new geometry and stop sign gave the occasional pedestrian adequate opportunity to safely cross the street at this location.  Members also felt that there were adequate gaps in the traffic to permit crossing without undue delay.

Speed of Traffic on Puddin Lane – no progress; waiting for new (2009) traffic classifier data.

DOT response to petition/letter from Storrs Heights regarding a pedestrian signal at Hanks Hill Road and Route 195 – for information only; no action required.

Mailbox relocation – Baxter Road near Anton Road – Hultgren said that he had met with the Storrs Postmaster and agreed upon a location about 40 feet North of the existing mailboxes location (so that they are out of the intersection), but that a resident had contacted him and suggested they be moved to the South instead.  Hultgren said that he had marked this new area and it was OK’d by the Postmaster but he wanted other members to look at it as well.  Jackman said he would look at this location as well.

Signal Timing for the New Signal at South Eagleville and Route 32 – Hultgren said that he had contacted Mr. Ng of the DOT to explain that the default (fully loaded) timing for the new signal needed more time on Route 32.  Mr. Ng said he would look into this.

UConn Permit to Operate without full compliance (STC permit) – Hultgren noted that the STC was giving UConn a permit to temporarily operate its facilities prior to their complete compliance with their STC permit (Mansfield Road intersection hasn’t been modified to include the extra turning lane yet).   For information only, no action required.

Fast Traffic on Birch Road near Bone Mill Road – referred to DPW/Engineering for study and recommendations.

No Parking Sign Request (from Resident State Trooper’s Office) Hunting Lodge Road between Separatist and North Eagleville Road – approved subject to exact locations as agreed upon by the Director of Public Works and the Resident State Trooper.

Respectfully submitted,

Lon Hultgren

Director of Public Works

Cc:      Town Clerk

            Town Manager

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