Madison Officials Asked to Consider Installing Downtown Crosswalk

MADISON, CT - The Board of Police Commissioners has voted unanimously to send a letter to the Board of Selectmen asking that consideration be given to building a crosswalk for pedestrians in the downtown area and that studies begin to find out the cost of such a project and where the funding might come from.

The commissioners took the action at its April meeting.

The issue is not a new one, as anyone who drives in the busy downtown area of Madison knows to keep one eye out for pedestrians cutting across the road trying to make it quickly to the other side without using crosswalks on either end.

Late last year Selectman Al Goldberg, who is the board’s liaison to the Board of Police Commissioners, reported that a solution to that safety problem may finally be near.

The downtown, Route 1, is a state maintained, not town road. Because of that it is the state that has control over traffic issues for the downtown area.

“Historically the state has said we couldn’t build a crosswalk in the middle of Main Street,” Goldberg told his fellow selectmen last year.

But Goldberg said that in meetings that Police Chief Jack Drumm has had with state officials, there seems to be some sense that the state may be changing its mind on that position.

“For the first time in a long time there is optimism that the state will approve this,” Goldberg said.

Goldberg has said a crosswalk in the middle of the street would make the downtown area safer for pedestrians “and easier to navigate.”

Goldberg noted the timing couldn’t be better, if the state does relent, because the town is in the final stages of its downtown beautification project.

Drumm, at the April police commission meeting, said he believes a crosswalk is important “because a lot of seniors move to residences downtown.”

Officials state that over 11,500 vehicles pass through downtown Madison on an average day.

The downtown project got underway in July of 2015.

Once completed the following work will have been completed:
--- replacing sidewalks with brick pavers;
--- remove overhead utilities;
--- install new energy efficient LED lighting;
--- install new center median with irrigation and electrical service;
--- install new granite curbing;
--- replace street trees