Politics & Government

Concerns Arise About UConn Health Center Projects' Impact on Avon Traffic

Town officials look to the University of Connecticut Health Center to help accelerate upgrades to Old Farms Road in light of upcoming expansion and Jackson Laboratory development.


The potential increase in traffic that The Jackson Laboratory, of Maine, development and University of Connecticut Health Center expansion could bring to Old Farms Road, a passageway that the town is looking to upgrade, is leaving town officials concerned.

The narrow, windy road has become a major cut-through for traffic coming from West Avon Road, Route 44 and Route 10, as well as to and from Route 4 in Farmington, where the UConn Health Center is located.

“It’s a major east-west corridor, but it’s not designed for what it’s carrying,” Robertson said.

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Avon has already identified some necessary improvements to the road, such as relocating it, replacing the bridge near Waterville Road and renovating the intersection with Waterville, Robertson said. The town is also looking to acquire about 100 acres of open space from Avon Old Farms School to "provide a protected corridor along the relocated roadway and provide a contiguous multi-use trail from the Farmington Valley Greenway to Fisher Meadows," according to a project description on the town website.

Robertson wrote about traffic concerns in a letter to Kevin R. Norton, UConn Health Center project manager, on Jan. 25, the day of the environmental impact public hearing for Jackson Labs and health center expansion projects.

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“As an adjoining town to the Health Center, and home to the one major west to east commuter corridor feeding the Health Center, Avon is constantly confronted with the traffic generated by the Health Center Complex and its many adjacent enterprises,” Robertson wrote to Norton.

“Our concern specifically relates to the pending transportation projects that the Connecticut Department of Transportation (DOT) has been developing with the Town of Avon (State Projects 04-116, 04-118 and 04-129) to deal with both the current serious traffic overloading problem, but also future anticipated increases in the traffic volume due to the underway expansion.”

Town officials are in the process of developing a financial plan for Old Farms Road improvements, Robertson said. An environmental evaluation is underway, according to the town website.

“We’re trying to get the project shovel-ready to the extent that when funding becomes available at the government level, it’s ready to go,” Robertson said.

Robertson wrote to Norton that he hopes the Department of Transportation will fund Old Farms Road upgrades and that planned UConn Health Center development will accelerate the permitting process for Old Farms Road so that "construction can get underway as soon as possible."

"Accordingly, it is hoped that the Health Center project team will take an active interest in assisting the Town and State DOT to complete these traffic improvements for all concerned, raise awareness for their need within the greater Health Center community of concern and become an avid supporter and advocate for their completion," Robertson wrote to Norton.

The Old Farms Road bridge, built in 1950, was on the DOT's Statewide Transportation Improvement Project list until about a year or two ago, Robertson said, but was taken off as other Connecticut capital projects took priority. Water often floods the low-lying bridge, he said.

“It’s a really old bridge,” Robertson said. "It doesn’t mean it’s in danger of imminent collapse. A lot of the decking is wearing off.”

A public hearing will eventually be scheduled regarding Old Farms Road prospective improvements, Robertson said.

Other than traffic concerns, Robertson wrote to Norton that the town of Avon supports the Jackson Labs and health center expansion projects.

"The town of Avon benefits greatly by our proximity to the Health Center," Robertson wrote to Norton. "These projects are exactly what the State of Connecticut, Hartford Region and the Town of Avon would hope for in the form of economic development initiatives."


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