SOUTHINGTON, CT — Local officials are discussing a potential safety hazard at a local walking/hiking/biking trail intersection with a Southington roadway.
Southington Councilman Jim Morelli, chair of the Southington Town Council Public Works Committee, briefed colleagues last week about a concern regarding the Rails-to-Trails site in town.
He said compromised visual sight lines at Lazy Lane and Spring Street are worrying both hikers and motorists alike.
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“There’s concern that it’s difficult for pedestrians on the trail to see cars and vice versa, with the overgrown corridors. So the sight lines are not what they should be,” Morelli said.
The subcommittee mulled using mandatory stop signs at those crossings, but Morelli said Lazy Lane is a common roadway utilized by trucks.
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Meanwhile, he said, Spring Street has too much traffic for stop signs to be used.
Currently, the town has hired work crews to extend and modernize the trail, but it isn’t known if that would be covered regarding any work at the crossings.
Morelli said a plethora of overgrown vegetation is impacting both hiker and motorist visual lines at the crossings.
No town council action was taken on June 24 and Morelli and the committee’s concerns were part of the committee’s regular report to town officials.
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The issue, Morelli said, is whether the town itself has to clear the sight lines or the contractor already working on the extension project should do so.
Trail crossings at roadways can be dangerous spots.
In Vernon on June 12, an elderly couple was struck — with a woman killed — by a motorist in a trail crossing crosswalk in that town.
For the minutes of the June 24 Southington Town Council meeting, click on this link.
From June 12: ‘Woman Dead, Man Hurt After Pedestrians Hit In Vernon: Police: UPDATE’
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