Small Crowd Gathers for Public Hearing on Rtes 20/75 Off-Ramp Redesign

While the developers of a proposal to reconfigure the off ramp from Route 20 onto Route 75 tout the improved safety of the area, some residents said they’re concerned that the roughly $4.7 million project would be to the benefit of the developer, not the community.

A small and generally subdued group of residents listened as Paul Smith, an attorney representing the BDL Real Estate Holdings, LLC, presented the plan and answered questions during a planning commission public hearing on the proposal held Tuesday night

According to the plan, the change to the existing exit ramp will consist of re-routing the ramp onto a service road connected to Route 75 rather than feeding directly onto the highway as it does currently. Smith cited a high accident rate associated with the current configuration, as well as opening the areas behind Route 75 for development as benefits of the design. BDL Real Estate Holdings owns property adjacent to the ramp and hired the engineering firm Fuss and O'Neill to assemble the plan.

The service road would provide access to the property owned by BDL Real Estate Holdings, LLC. Smith said that no firm plans were in place for the roughly 10-15 acres of land owned by his client. He did say that it would most likely include retail, restaurant, or hospitality businesses as well as possible residential development.

The total project cost is estimated at $4.7 million, with $2.8 million possibly funded through the Surface Transportation Program. The program offers 80 percent reimbursement from Federal Highway Administration with the additional 20 percent made up by the state and town of Windsor Locks. Town officials have already allocated $250,000 for the project.

During the hearing residents who spoke voiced concerns over whether the reconfiguration of the ramp would alleviate traffic problems and accidents as the proposed off-ramp has a much more severe curve than the current ramp. Patrick Baxter of Fuss and O'Neill explained there was ample room on Route 20 for signage to slow traffic down for the off-ramp, and the exit onto the service roads would alleviate the stress of access to Route 75 directly from the highway.

Others said that taxpayer dollars were going to be spent for the sole benefit of the developer. In response to the question of whether the Department of Transportation would be considering such a project if the private project were not associated, Smith noted that the plan fit in with the longstanding goals of creating alternate access corridors to Route 75.

“Everybody who has reviewed the project on the state and federal level has viewed the development positively...it starts to solve significant traffic issues,” Smith said.

Tom Gordon of the Department of Transportation agreed with Smith's assessment and said that the project fit within the goal of the department to improve the area near Bradley International Airport. He cited a long-range CRCOG study recommending the improvement of access to Route 75 by the use of back access roads.

Windsor Locks resident Matthew Linden disagreed and said, “The taxpayer seems to be paying to benefit the developer alone.”

The next stage of the process requires town officials to review and approve final design plans and the state transportation department’s approval of the project. Smith said he would like to coordinate the reconfiguration of the off-ramp with the construction of the interior roadway for his client's development.

The town would administer the construction and be responsible for the advertising, award, and inspection of the project.