As a lifelong Waterbury resident, I have watched the intersection of Watertown Avenue and Irvington Avenue change considerably over the years. When the area around Watertown Avenue and Kaynor Technical High School was redesigned years ago, Irvington Avenue was changed from its former configuration to the T-intersection we have today.
Whatever conditions existed when that design was implemented, conditions change. Traffic patterns change. The number of vehicles using our roads changes. Yet anyone who regularly travels this area knows the difficulty of navigating this intersection, particularly during the morning school rush. Traffic can back up while drivers wait to turn left from Watertown Avenue onto Irvington Avenue, while entering Watertown Avenue from Irvington can be equally difficult.
This should also be viewed as a public safety issue. Kaynor Tech students walk through this area, school buses travel it daily, and Watertown Avenue carries significant traffic, often at considerable speed. During my nine years as a Waterbury police officer, I saw firsthand the consequences of motor vehicle accidents along Watertown Avenue.
I am not suggesting that I know whether a traffic signal is the answer. That is for the professionals to determine. I am asking Waterbury and the Connecticut Department of Transportation to conduct a current traffic and safety study of this intersection and determine whether a signal or another traffic-control improvement is warranted.
Infrastructure should evolve when the conditions around it do. This intersection deserves another look.
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This article originally published at Letter: Time to revisit Watertown and Irvington Avenues in Waterbury.