How much busier would Danbury's Newtown Road be at the Bethel border with a new Jersey Mike's?
DANBURY  One of the busiest commercial stretches on the citys east side would have more congestion at peak hours near the Bethel border if planners approve an application to open a Jersey Mikes fast food restaurant in a former cellular service store. But the extra peak-hour traffic along a stretch of Newtown Road where two strip malls are across the street from each other could be absorbed without building new lanes, according to a city expert. The reason: the state Department of Transportation is already widening the four-lane Newtown Road just south of the shopping centers. Danbury planners will take up the traffic impact question at a public hearing on Wednesday along with an apparent disagreement between city staff and Jersey Mikes consultants about the applicant paying for crosswalk improvements so shoppers can cross the street between the malls. We have seen no demonstrated need for pedestrian mobility between the Berkshire Shopping Center and the Nutmeg Square Shopping Center, said Joe Balskus, a traffic consultant for the applicant, in a memo to Danbury City Hall, adding that crossing improvements was the states purview. [P]edestrian improvements at the shopping center intersection  should be incorporated in the design of the ongoing reconstruction of Newtown Road.  The consultant is referring to a proposal by the owners of the smaller Nutmeg Square shopping center to open a Jersey Mikes Subs restaurant in a 1,500-square-foot space formerly rented by Cricket wireless. If approved, the new Jersey Mikes would add an estimated 66 car trips to Newtown Road during the weekday evenings when traffic is already at its busiest, and 67 more car trips during the peak of weekend congestion at midday Saturday, the applicants traffic consultant estimated. The new Jersey Mikes, which would invest about $90,000 in storefront improvements, would be in the mall anchored by Stop & Shop. The 91,000-square-foot malls tenants include Little Caesars pizza, Bangkok restaurant, Nutmeg Cleaners, and Ideal Furniture. It would be across the street from the Berkshire Shopping Center, anchored by Walmart, where tenants include Dollar Tree, Staples, Home Goods, Marshalls, and McDonalds. (The) proposed fast-food restaurant redevelopment  will have no material impact on the roadway network adjacent to the project site, the consultant Balskus wrote in a 20-page traffic analysis. The citys traffic czar agreed. There is adequate capacity along Newtown Road to accommodate the projected vehicular trip generation without the need for roadway capacity improvements, wrote Abdul Mohamed, the citys traffic engineer. Mohamed called on the applicant to improve pedestrian mobility between the subject parcel and Berkshire Shopping Center, by installing ADA (American with Disabilities Act) compliant ramps and push button/pedestrian signal displays.  The applicant balked. (The) scope of this change of use does not warrant the significant cost and time required for design and permitting such improvements, Balskus said. If approved, the east side would become Jersey Mikes fourth location in the Danbury area. In March, Jersey Mikes opened in New Milford, adding to its locations in Brookfield and Ridgefield.