Traffic change possible for Hubbard Ave.

NORWICH – At Thursday night’s meeting of the City of Norwich Public Works and Public Safety Committee, City Planning Director Todd Dreyer discussed a plan that would call for the opening of the southern portion of Hubbard Avenue to two-way traffic.

Hubbard Ave. is located adjacent to the railroad tracks directly across from the P&C parking lot. Currently only the northern portion of Hubbard accommodates two-way traffic.

“The proposal is related to NBT’s interest in acquiring properties on Front Street,” said Dreyer. Opening Hubbard Ave. to two-way traffic would make the closing of North Front Street, the road that currently takes traffic out of the City Court parking lot towards Front Street, possible. In a later phone interview, Dreyer explained only a small portion of Hubbard Ave., would be affected by the change. “The area around City Court would be unaffected,” said Dreyer.

“I’ve spoken with Carl (Ivarson, the superintendent of the Department of Public Works) about the widths and the geometry of Hubbard, and he said it is wide enough to accommodate two-way traffic,” said Dreyer. He explained one of the main reasons the southern portion of Hubbard Ave., had been designated a one-way street was because of the position of the railroad crossing gate. The railroad has not been running on the tracks since the June flooding damaged a portion of the track. The railroad has not said whether or not they plan to continue service on the line.