Speeding is the primary issue. East St (RT 217) is a favorite street for walking and bike riding, however without sidewalks the cars travel too fast above 35 speed limit and road is too narrow in places for safe walking and bike riding.

The issue is still open nothing changed. I don't see it changing as there does not seem to be an interest. Maybe I am by myself on this. It is a State road but a problem for City residents as East St/ Rt. 217 goes through a residential area where a good portion of Middletown residents live. However there is a heavy percentage of those residents that rent and just might not have an interest in local conditions.

Have you notified TransAlt Middletown about this?

Creating more documentation (anecdotes, photos, videos, data) here and asking additional people to "vote" on the issue can go a long way towards getting this fixed.

I called TransAlt Middletown and left a message, but have not heard back. I will try again. Thanks for reminding me.

Maybe with the passage of the state's first "complete streets" law this past legislative session, Connecticut has begun to lay the groundwork for roads that accommodate all users including walkers, bicyclists, even older adults like myself, and people with disabilities. This law won't be fully implemented until next fall. I hope that the State will consider East street early when it starts to implement the law.

Nothing has changed.

We also live on East Street.....when we first moved here 5 years ago we noticed speed traps once in awhile....now we never see any......the traffic is unreal, most people travel 45 to 50 mph or more....the street is unsafe, I am sure we will see a tragedy again soon !! All we are asking for is speed traps or at least visual appearance of police cars on the side of the road

50 years who would have imagined the population growth of the Westfield area and traffic generated by the industrial park has made route 217 a road in dire need of a remake. Most of route 217 doesn't have a shoulder for bicyclists or pedestrians. the existing shoulders were added during construction of an intersecting new street for vehicles to pass turning traffic. Along other sections of route 217 pedestrians must walk in the travel section of the road because the roadside is not maintained, or the ground is not safe to walk on. With motorists traveling well above the posted speed limit and pedestrians and bicyclists forced in the travel portion of the roadway we are lucky no one has been struck by a motor vehicle. Making a quick trip to the store or a neighbors house requires passage on 217, Driving there usually wins. The neighborhoods, and the neighborhood store, the East Street market, are disconnected from each other. For my children to ride bicycles with their friends in an adjacent neighborhood we have to transport the bicycles by car.

217 does need to be widened, with side walks and a bike lane. Walking, jogging or biking on this road is very dangerous. Even when the traffic is at the speed limit, it's dangerous because the road is too tight.

this road doesn't need to be widened......the houses on this road are already to close to the road. The road needs to be monitored by either state or local police... almost everyone travels over 50 mph
In my opinion even with the roads widen it is still to dangerous to ride or walk on sidewalks

I am glad to see some further comments on East St/ Rt 21. I would like to see two things done right now. First the yellow double line should be totally , painted SOLID rather than showing PASSING opportunities which imply speed. Second At least one possibly two stp signs to break up speed along the road. Just my opinion. It would be a start to give walkers and bikers a chance.

Please overlook typos especially Rt # as you know is Rt 217

Thanks

thank you to the Middletown Police Dept......I have noticed today that we have an officer sitting at the end of Briarwood Lane.....I hope he is monitoring the speed of the cars.....I also noticed they placed a speed rating device in the Hunt Club area....where there are many young kids and people also travel to fast.....any little bit helps.....thank you again

Police presence is great ; however a more permanent solution is what is needed. A couple of stop signs would be a really good start.

I agree a few stop signs would be great !!!

We have lived in a small neighborhood built in the early 60's behind the Bible Church. When we first moved in, we were able to take walks and jog along Route 217/East Street without much concern for our safety. (Now we drive over to the industrial park area to walk and run as the streets there are wider.)There has been a tremendous amount of development in this area including the industrial park affecting the quality of life for residents. Along with resident vehicles, many people use this route to get to Route 66. Lately there has been an increase of 18 wheel trucks using this roadway as well. With such a high concentration of people living here, there really needs to be a pedestrian path or walkway. The city advertises the pathway through Condo City. But what about the side streets right off of East Street? How about connecting them?
About 10 years ago I had the opportunity to speak with Representative Joseph Serra about this issue. I thought since he used to be a bigshot in Middletown's public works department, he may have some insight as to how to initiate getting sidewalks put in. His response was a shrug and the comment that this is a state road. I also asked the Westfield Residents for Rational Development if they would support a proposal for a walkway. The answer was no. As for tragedy, there was an incident a number of years ago. An elderly woman getting her mail from her roadside mailbox was killed. If I remember correctly, she lived in one of the homes near the fire station. Speed is a huge issue with average speeds of 50mph. But mostly the road is too narrow for pedestrians and bicycles. A walkway or bike path would be a wonderful improvement for residents of this area.

Your comment on a walkway is right on. I have lived on East st for many years, the state owns enough land that a sidewalk is a home run. Maybe with the passage of the state's first "complete streets" law this past legislative session, Connecticut has begun to lay the groundwork for roads that accommodate all users including walkers, bicyclists, even older adults like myself, and people with disabilities. This law won't be fully implemented until next fall. I hope that the State will consider East street early when it starts to implement the law. Maybe Joe Serra could help on this. It would be great for the community of Westfield.

I am a life long resident of Westfield and now live off South Plumb. It's great to see these posts but we all know that nothing will get done until a tragedy occurs (again). Maybe we should organize some type of "march" in the road to bring the traffic to a stop for a few hours . That would bring attention from media,politicians and the people that use the road daily for a need to get the ped. and bike traffic off the street.Some good old fashion civil protest might just do the trick. We should stand up for the quality of life issues that effect all of us . Our kids should be able to ride from one neighborhood to the next without fear of being struck .

I've lived off of 217 for over 14 years now and I've seen the increase in traffic throughout the years. You need to be careful pulling out from a side street because of the little dips in the road. And it's hard to see low profile cars, bikes, etc that are going way to fast. Plus traveling this road almost every day I see people walking with their kids right on the road because there's NO sidewalks. It's a wonder no ones gotten killed yet. I guess it's just a matter of time!!!!

I am all for it, I would first consider asking Westfield Residents for Rational Development why, according to skrunner, they are not for a proposal for a walkway. They are suppose to represent Westfield. Do they or don't they? I don't really know. I would hope that they do. Just a thought.

I too live in a neighborhood off of Route 217. As a runner, and wife of a cyclist, I agree that this road is too narrow for pedestrians. A secondary (but still significant) concern is the speed of vehicles on this route. I was disappointed a few years ago when the road was resurfaced, which added curbs and made it even harder to stay on the shoulder. Nothing was done for pedestrians, and it would have been the perfect opportunity.

It's a shame that in order to feel safe, I need to drive a mile down the road to park in a private condo parking lot in order to get a workout in. More people in Middletown should be allowed safe access to the Mettabasset Trolley Trail, and adding safe passage for pedestrians would allow that to happen.

Stop signs are not an effective measure of speed control. Study after study has shown this to be the case. Stop signs are used to control conflicts at intersections. If they are placed where not needed, motorists will begin to disobey them if they see no traffic from the other direction, leading to a false sense of security from those thinking motorists will stop. Additionally, even if a vehicle does stop, they are back up to speed within 50 feet. Certainly, sidewalks are the way to go.

Add me to the list of locals that think there should be either a sidewalk or at least a shoulder wider than 9 inches! It is too bad that I have to drive my car a mile down the road if I want to run on the trail by the river instead of just running from my house.

I disagree that stop signs or more police will help. Those unsafe drivers that currently make this road dangerous will just run the stop signs and sill still be speeding when the cops are not around.

I don't believe that making assumptions that people will break the law and run stop signs is helpful. Stop signs are a cost effective means of trying to control the flow of traffic.

Since there are two major problems with RT 217, one being the speed of traffic the other a road that is unsafe currently to handle cars and people. I believe it is in the best interest to all that the State use the right of way that they own on both sides of the road and work with the City to develop an area where people can walk and ride bikes without having to put their lives at risk. This would deal with people as to the speed of traffic I don't see another solution other than stop signs, traffic signals are costly, to me a stop sign is a more reasonable approach to speed.

I am not assuming, I am stating an unfortunate fact that stop signs and lower speed limits do not control speed. Read this study for more info on the subject:
http://troymi.gov/trafficengineering/multiway.htm

Federal guidelines, which are adhered to by the City of Middletown and the CTDOT, prohibit the use of stop signs for the purposes of speed control, specifically because it is an ineffective measure. Therefore, the State will not consider stop signs on the main artery. You should pursue instead the separation of pedestrians and traffic flow. I am writing with over 27 years of experience in these matters.

I was under the impression that you were referring to a study not Federal guidelines, makes a difference. Is there any reference in the guideline to a "main artery" that runs totally through a residential area with a high population?

I would think that common sense would also be part of a federal guideline. Hopefully with your 27 years of experience you might be in a better position to offer a suggestion that would address the high speed and need for people to use Rt 217 to walk and ride bikes without endangering their lives.

Hi Robert, The guidelines themselves only give the requirements that are required to be met to install a stop sign at an intersection (ie: volume, accident history, etc). it also says under what circumstances signs and signals are not to be used (speed control for example). It does not differentiate residential and commercial or mixed use geographical areas. That being said, there is hope. The Planning and Zoning department is now pursuing changes to town owned roads to make them more pedestrian and bicycle friendly. It's a new proposal that is gaining steam quickly. You should involve yourself in the process. The State has been willing in the past to help towns pursue these options, though there are a lot of hoops to go through and it depends on the proposal whether or not they would approve. I hope this helps.

Steve:

Thank you. Great comment very helpful. I will forward to Bill Warner Director of Planning and Zoning to see if we can get the ball rolling.

Bill asked me if you are with the DOT. Are you?

i live in this area and would love to see, be involved, in doing something to slow traffic down. the speed on my street is unreal at times. i have been passed on ballfall several times and have called the police dept. and they did not care, actually they did not believe me because it's such a dangerous street to be passing on (no kidding!). not sure who else i would call. i have young kids, and there are several young kids in the area, all would benefit from sidewalks, esp with local schools being within walking distance for those who would choose to walk.

I hit print flyer on top of screen and will put flyer on my mail box. That is the least I can do at this point to stop the high speed on Rt 217 so that people can walk or ride their bikes safely.

I hit print flyer on top of screen and will put flyer on my mail box. That is the least I can do at this point to stop the high speed on Rt 217 so that people can walk or ride their bikes safely.

It would be helpful to contact DOT with ?'s and concerns also attach all comments

http://www.ferassoft.ga2h.com/vb/showthread.php?t=102&p=2395&posted=1#post2395

http://www.pnpm-perdesaan.or.id/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=490943&p=772098#p772098

http://www.jiemang.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=72&t=337928&p=435066#p435066

http://ptcforums.com/index.php?topic=136303.new#new

La vente des sacs main et sacs main sur ebay pot constituera un d gratifiant et amusant sac main chanel si vous pouvez rep une bonne affaire. From pert and perky white Mary Janes to EZ Sneakers with velcro straps, to snazzy loafers, sharp sneakers, and unbelievably cool boots, Polo casuals are a delight for children and keep those little feet well supported.
I just want to perform on problems that are genuinely hard, and when I not working on problems that are genuinely hard, I want to hang up out with people these times I prefer to become with, understanding that is it. It was started in 1892 by its founder David Abercrombie in the United States. 2009-11-07. For a quieter evening out, go east in the 3rd Ring street to an leisure area recognised as fortunate Street.

http://bot-rift.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=665448

http://www.greenertennessee.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=242287&p=366461#p366461

http://forum.ukraineducation.com/index.php?topic=276664.new#new

http://www.scionridez.com/forumdev/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=150178&p=155816#p155816

The City of Middletown will officially launch SeeClickFix in October 2016. As we ramp up with this partnership, the City is offering a limited number of reportable issue types and we ask that residents submit only the issues listed through SeeClickFix. Other issues not listed through SeeClickFix can be reported by calling the appropriate City Department. If the issue you originally reported has not yet been resolved and is listed through the selectable Issues, please consider submitting a new report through the SeeClickFix system and we’ll be happy to address your concern at that time. Thanks and the City is excited about this new partnership to continue improving Middletown.

Thanks for fixing this issue!