Bridging the four-lane divide

Kensington looks at pedestrian-friendly ways to connect town

Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2006

A member of the Kensington Town Council thinks he knows one way to make the town more pedestrian friendly — by installing an underpass to connect the east and west sides of Howard Avenue.

‘‘One of the problems that we have in Kensington is that it’s very difficult to get from one side to another, whether you’re on foot or a bike or a car or whatever,” said Town Councilman Al Carr said. ‘‘It might be possible to connect the two sides of traffic [with] a pedestrian pathway and a bike way and also a road, so that you’d be able to drive one way from east to west on Howard [Avenue].”

The issue of pedestrian safety has always been important to the town, according to Mayor Lynn Raufaste.

But it has been talked about lately in light of recent efforts to revitalize the town’s business and social areas.

Given the fact that Howard Avenue has businesses on both sides — and therefore lots of pedestrians — connecting the street might be a good place to start, Carr said.

The underpass would be located under the bridge that’s on the north side of Howard Avenue. And it would offer residents another option for getting across the street without having to cross the four-lane highway, Connecticut Avenue — what people are currently doing.

Carr thinks the idea deserves some consideration now since the deadline for a state grant that would pay for half the construction is March 1.

The State Highway Administration offers grant money for nontraditional transportation improvement projects under its Transportation Enhancement Program, according to highway administration spokesman, Chuck Gischlar.

‘‘When you think of the State Highway Administration you think of bridges and highways,” Gischlar said. ‘‘These are things that are not, but are still related to highway.”

Some examples of projects that would be considered are pedestrian pathways, bike trails, overpasses and landscaping projects, according to the program’s rules listed on the State Highway Administration Web site.

Last week, Carr and Raufaste met with state highway officials to discuss safety and transportation issues around Connecticut, Knowles and Summit avenues.

But, Raufaste said, the meeting was just a general talk about the area, and the town hasn’t even looked into what an underpass would cost.

It is possible that the Kensington Town Council members could talk about the underpass at its meeting Monday, but Raufaste hopes the issue will be put in context with other projects the town is working on.

‘‘We need to be careful we’re not taking on more than we can afford,” Raufaste said. ‘‘I’m not saying that it isn’t important. But you’ve got to have time to work on something like this and you can’t write a grant over night.”

The town is currently looking at what it will cost to fund part of the historic town building Circle Manor. And when plans to get a parking lot installed on Metropolitan Avenue come through, the town could be looking at future upkeep costs of $7,000 to $7,500 a year, Raufaste said.

‘‘I don’t want the town to become overburdened,” Raufaste said. ‘‘To have their taxes raised, that concerns me more than anything.”

Still, Raufaste acknowledges this is a project that residents, especially those in the town’s business community, might support.

‘‘There are people who are interested in having an easier, safer way of getting across Connecticut Avenue,” Raufaste said. ‘‘The business groups would like to see a way to connect so that it makes it easier for people [to access all the shops].”

Currently, most people cross Connecticut Avenue at the crosswalk on Knowles Avenue, Raufaste said.

But there are some residents, including business owners, who just avoid crossing Connecticut Avenue on foot altogether.

‘‘I don’t even cross there,” said Kensington resident John Low, owner of specialty shop Banning and Low.

Last fall, Low moved his business to the west side of Howard Avenue and said he gets more business. But he’s still in favor of the underpass to connect the streets.

‘‘Whether or not it’s good for business, I just think it’s a good idea. It’s hard enough [getting to both sides],” Low said. ‘‘And the more people we can attract to Kensington, the better.”

John Morris, who has lived in Kensington for 28 years, hadn’t heard anything about the underpass, but it struck him as a good idea.

‘‘I’m in favor of it, but I just wonder...it seems like it would be very expensive,” Morris said.