Officials, DOT working to make Route 7 safer
NEW MILFORD — Long before she moved into the Willow Springs condominium complex, Laura Reynolds said she knew the section of Route 7 in front of the complex was “an accident waiting to happen.”
“People treat this road like it’s [Interstate] 84 — the left lane is the fast lane and the right lane is the slow lane, but it’s not,” said Reynolds, adding she used to travel on Route 7 when she worked for the Southern New England Telecommunications Corp., now known as AT&T. “Every day you hear people speeding, traffic going in and out, and the police do what they can … but the road is so heavily traveled.”
Reynolds, who moved into the Willow Springs complex a few years ago, said she joined the condominium board to get issues with Route 7 addressed, especially after a New Milford resident was killed in a motorcycle accident on Route 7, a state road.
Multiple accidents have occurred along Route 7, also known as Danbury Road, over the past few years, including a fatal three-car crash that happened Sept. 22 in front of Italia Mia Restaurant & Pizzeria. That crash killed a 17-yearold
New Milford High School student and injured three others, including a teenager.
Marta Dileo, who co-owns Italia Mia with her husband, Rocco Dileo, said she’s seen “at least 10, if not more” accidents on Route 7 over the years and was at the restaurant when the Sept. 22 crash happened.
“I believe people are going way too fast — they treat it like a highway,” Marta Dileo said about Route 7. “It’s concerning because we have so many
people coming in and out… My own kids work here — I always tell them make sure to go right, don’t try to go left, because if you’re leaving Italia Mia and trying to go left [on Route 7], it’s too many cars and they go too fast.”
So far in 2023, there have been 176 accidents reported on Danbury Road, according to New Milford police’s records department.
In the last two months, New Milford police have stopped 582 vehicles on
Danbury Road out of a total of 792 vehicle stops, New Milford Police Chief Spencer Cerruto said at the Nov. 27 Town Council meeting. Cerruto said police have issued $76,500 in infractions in the last two months, with $66,000 in infractions issued on Route 7.
Mayor Pete Bass said vehicle accidents reports are posted each week on the town’s emergency alerts program, “Notify New Milford,” to alert residents about traffic accidents and detours.
“It’s all in our frame of mind,” Bass said about road safety, “and you can see the results of high rate speed that can happen on a road system such as this. If we can all take a little time and all just think about the safety practices, I think it’ll become a safer course for our community. That’s an extra plus to have a safe road system in our town and that’s what we’re all striving for.”
The state Department of Transportation has promised to prioritize repairs to traffic lights on Route 7 and to coordinate a road safety audit along Route 7 with New Milford, which local officials hope will lead to improvements.
Josh Morgan, a spokesperson with the state DOT, said an updated road safety audit on Route 7 will begin in the spring of 2024 and that New Milford was advised to connect with the Western Connecticut Council of Governments to coordinate a larger corridor study.
“Once these studies are completed, it will provide a detailed roadmap of potential solutions for further discussion,” Morgan said.
The DOT conducted a
road safety audit in July 2016 along Danbury Road between Still River Drive and Dodd Road to improve safety for pedestrians and bicyclists traveling along the corridor. Key issues in the 2016 audit focused on the lighting on Route 7 at night; the fragmented sidewalks along Route 7; a lack of painted sidewalks crossing Route 7; and vehicles having difficulty turning left onto and off Route 7, particularly at the Willow Springs complex.
‘Everything in our power’
Bass said New Milford is taking a “multifaceted approach” to road safety that focuses on education, enforcement, engineering, technology and self-responsibility.
New Milford asked the state Department of Transportation in July to establish school zones to slow traffic near the public
schools and Canterbury School. The town has also asked to establish a school zone near Faith Academy on Route 7, per the school’s request.
Along with having daily discussions about road safety with Cerruto, Bass said he has been working with state officials to explore additional safety measures and resources. Bass said he, Cerruto, state Rep. Bill Buckbee, state Sen. Stephen Harding and state Rep. Patrick Callahan met with state Transportation Commissioner Garrett Eucalitto and his team in October to discuss their concerns and how New Milford can partner with the DOT to make roads safer.
Buckbee said it’s been “a huge push in collaboration” to bring attention to road safety and make sure “the DOT can’t overlook what needs to be done in New Milford.”
He said he believes the safety issues on Route 7 affect every business owner and resident in New Milford, adding he’s had people say their children aren’t comfortable driving on that road.
“Improving the safety on Route 7 in New Milford is absolutely critical to our district,” Harding said. “The lives we lost on this roadway is absolutely tragic. We have to do everything in our power to make it safer for our residents.”
‘You really put your life in your hands’
Several residents of the Willow Springs complex have shared concerns about not being able to safely turn left on Route 7, among other issues.
Lisa Seo, a Willow Springs resident, said when she’s making a left turn into the condominium complex, she’s always afraid the car behind her can’t stop fast enough and about the cars that get close behind her. Along with creating a left turn lane in front of Willow Springs, Seo recommended installing a traffic light in front of the condominium complex, which she said Willow Springs residents have been talking about for over a decade.
Michael Jessamy, a Willow Springs resident, said Route 7 has gotten “a little more hectic” since the road was expanded from a two-lane to a fourlane route. He said he believes installing a stop sign or a blinking yellow light and lowering the speed limit in front of the condominium complex would drastically decrease the number of speeding cars on that section of Route 7.
“With our condominium complex, you’re dealing with 300 or some odd units,” Jessamy said. “That’s almost a mini town itself with people pulling out.”
Reynolds said she’s heard concerns from other Willow Springs residents about the amount of oncoming traffic on Route 7 when they’re pulling out of the condominium complex. She’s also heard concerns about vehicles speeding on Route 7 and residents getting rear-ended when they’re trying to turn into the complex.
“You really put your life in your hands,” Reynolds said. “I think that’s the consensus among everyone about the amount of danger and the level of risk — everybody’s nervous about it.”
‘Potential solutions for further discussions’
In addition to the studies and traffic light repairs, the DOT will join state and local representatives in walking along Route 7 from the high school area to Veterans
Bridge to collect data on any immediate safety solutions. Buckbee said the DOT’s engineers will look at traffic patterns on that section and examine what can be done to slow traffic down.
Buckbee said state representatives have also talked with the DOT about increasing lighting on Route 7 but the DOT won’t install additional lights until the department has completed an illumination study on Route 7.
Morgan, the DOT spokesperson, said the illumination study on Route 7 is ongoing and will be completed by the end of the year.
Buckbee said the state and the DOT have agreed to assist New Milford with the costs to patrol state roads, since New Milford is spending town funds to patrol the state roads and all funds collected from traffic fines go to the state.
Bass said the town is continuing to push for a traffic light in front of Willow Springs, while Buckbee said the state recently passed the Vision Zero Council law to allow municipalities to install red light cameras. Buckbee and Harding also co-sponsored a bill to require additional lighting to be installed along Route 7, though Buckbee’s office said it’s up to the chairs of the Transportation Committee to pass it.
Installing gantries on Route 7 to hold speeding vehicles accountable, creating sidewalks from the high school going into town and having more police presence at rush hour are among the safety measures suggested by local residents.
“It’s like a spider web,” Jessamy said of safety measures on Route 7. “There’s multiple things I think need to be done in order to control it.”