Selectmen View Proposed Traffic Changes For Y's Mahackeno Move

Another step was taken Friday toward moving the Westport/Weston Family Y from downtown Westport to its Mahackeno property in the northwest corner of town, with a site visit by two selectmen to see how Sunny Lane and the eastbound on and off ramps of Exit 41 on the Merritt Parkway would be redesigned to accommodate the project.

Acting in their capacity as members of the town's Traffic Authority, First Selectman Gordon F. Joseloff and Second Selectwoman Shelly A. Kassen spent an hour walking through the commuter lot adjacent to the exit, and then down Sunny Lane, a narrow private road that leads into the property.

Exit 41's eastbound on and off ramps connect to Sunny Lane, creating the need to widen the road and move the ramps east from their current location if the project proceeds.

The tour was led by three engineers from Land-Tech Consultants in Westport, hired by the Y to prepare the traffic plan, and its attorney, Lawrence P. Weisman, of the Hartford law firm Halloran & Sage.

Weisman said the plans presented during the visit have already been informally reviewed by the state Department of Transportation and have been approved by the Merritt Parkway Conservancy.

The engineers said ultimately the plans must be approved by the State Traffic Commission.

Widening Sunny Lane to four lanes will require using a portion of the existing park-and-ride lot at Exit 41, but the engineers said the same number of parking spots will be available when the project's completed.

The Y is currently at 59 Post Road East. Its board of directors has decided to move it into a 100,000 square-foot facility to be built at Mahackeno, which is now a woodsy campground bordered on the east by the Saugatuck River and to the north by the Merritt Parkway.

The move has been a source of controversy, with some opponents arguing the Y should remain in the town center and others concerned the new location will put an overwhelming amount of traffic on Wilton Road, which is Route 33.

Two lawsuits have been filed against the project, with the intent of reversing approvals given to it by the Planning and Zoning Commission and the Conservation Commission.

Friday's site visit was open to the public, but comments and questions were not permitted, a point Joseloff made clear when a resident made a comment about the possibility of westbound traffic on the parkway becoming backed up at Exit 41.

"We're not here for public comment, the public is not permitted to ask questions," Joseloff said. "It's for (Traffic Authority members) to better understand what is being proposed, and simply, that's it."

A hearing where the public will be able to comment on the traffic plan will be held on Tuesday, June 22, at Town Hall.

Civil engineer Peter Romano of Land-Tech said the lawsuits against the project may be concluded by the end of the year, and if they don't result in a reversal of a town approval, construction could begin in the second quarter of 2011. He said construction would take about four months.

Stan Nayer, chairman of the Westport Senior Commission, said the "main thrust" of moving the Y to Mahakeno is to build a large swimming pool so that it can host competitions, which, he said, would occur on Friday nights.

"Five hundred to a thousand cars on Friday nights. It's going to be crazy," Nayer said.

The Y's executive director, Rob Reeves, vigorously denied any event at the facility would create that much traffic.

Standing next to Reeves, Steve Halstead, a supporter of the move to Mahackeno, said the swimming pool would be "the asset that sustains the programs that (the Y) believes the community needs."