Expect Some Confusion

By now, drivers who regularly travel down the hill of Route 67 in New Milford toward the Route 202/Grove Street intersection know that someone may end up in the wrong lane at the light. There’s another situation to watch out for.

Yesterday, I noticed a pedestrian walking in the light-colored, stone-scored area between the west and east lanes toward the intersection. It’s a nicely delineated area of considerable length and breadth. The only trouble is, it’s not a sidewalk.

As part of the major realignment project in that area, new sidewalks have been installed on both sides of the roadway (also known as Prospect Hill Road), from Old Grove Street and down past the spirit shop and lighting store as well as the Water Witch Hose Co. fire house to the intersection. This morning, a “hard-hat” worker was on his cell phone in the similar stone-scored area on the other side of the light, on Bridge Street, but he was apparently on the job.

Mike Zarba, the director of the town’s Public Works Department, said in a recent interview that these flat “islands” separate the two-way traffic lanes. “We could have used the yellow cross-hatching, but this was an option. We thought it looks better there, and it saves money. The yellow lines have to be painted more often.”

Speaking of yellow lines, now that night falls earlier and there’s more likelihood of rain in the evening, watch out for drivers heading south on Route 7 from the Stop & Shop Plaza to the bypass in Brookfield who might not know what lane to be in, especially if they want to turn. The yellow cross-hatching areas are not as easily visible.