Cornwall looks at sidewalk options

CORNWALL — As the deadline to submit a proposal for the Transportation Rural Improvement Program (TRIP) grant approaches, Cornwall’s Board of Selectmen took a field trip on  March 21 to  look at possible sites and discuss their plans.

The selectmen looked at two sites in town with the hope of using the grant as an opportunity to create more walkable and bike-able pedestrian zones. The first location was in West Cornwall and the second was in Cornwall Bridge.

In West Cornwall the proposals included a beaconed crosswalk to connect the two sidewalks on opposite sides of the street to create continuous walking path, adding a speed table to reduce the speed of traffic, adding street parking in front of the “Pink House,” and reconfiguring the parking lot at the post office to add spaces and make it safer to exit. First Selectman Gordon Ridgway said the changes would help with pedestrian safety in the village.

“We’ve had more housing and less businesses in West Cornwall but as businesses return we want to look into making this more walkable,” said Ridgway. “The whole goal is to make this more pedestrian safe.”

The board then traveled to Cornwall Bridge outside the Cornwall Country Market. Plans in this part of town included the addition of a sidewalk from the fire house to the market, putting in a speed table to slow traffic, adding a beaconed crosswalk with ADA compliant landings on each side of the road, and improving wireless internet connectivity in the area.

“The thought is to get a proper crosswalk there in that approximate location between the market and the lumber yard and have some beacons there,” said Ridgway.

When discussing the sidewalk to the firehouse, he added, “we would allow people to use firehouse parking, especially those who work at the market.”

The changes were identified as options that make the area safer for pedestrians and allow Cornwall Bridge to serve as a welcome area for visitors and cyclists traveling on the Western New England Greenway.

“We would look at helping to pave the lot in front of the market and help them establish a tourist welcome center there with some picnic tables and put a bike rack there,” said Ridgway.

Project Engineer Steve McDonnell was in attendance for the tour and was provided survey plans of the locations. He will draft up designs to be used in the grant proposal, which must be submitted to the Northwest Hills Council of Governments by the end of March.

“If we’re successful, we’d have to go back to a town meeting to get approval for all this work,” said Ridgway. “I think it will really help visitors, residents, and businesses in both our village centers, which we’d like to see both become increasingly busy.”