Johnson Road paving and personnel discussed at selectmen's meeting July 16

FALLS VILLAGE — The repaving of a portion of Johnson Road is essentially finished, but the reconfiguring of its intersection with Route 7 is ongoing, First Selectman Pat Mechare reported at Monday’s Board of Selectmen meeting. The project began in the second week of June and should be completed in a couple of weeks.

Workers from the state Department of Transportation will be painting lines at the intersection this week in the middle of the night, to cause minimal interference, Mechare said.

The street had prompted a number of complaints over the years from nearby residents. Johnson Road is often used as a shortcut from Route 7 to Route 126. Truckers use it frequently, even though it’s supposedly off-limits to oversize vehicles. Other vehicles routinely exceeded the posted speed limit, according to residents.

Plans call for a new T-shaped entrance to the road from Route 7. Mechare said this may make it more difficult for truckers to enter the road from Route 7 northbound, discouraging them from turning onto the shortcut to nearby Route 126. The new entrance will be engineered like the one at the intersection of North Elm Street and Route 7 in North Canaan, near the Snack Shack.

The reconfigured intersection will also provide better site lines for Johnson Road motorists making a left turn onto Route 7 south. Currently, the V-shaped intersection has blind spots.

Work on the narrow, steep, tree-lined road is also supposed to improve drainage and alleviate chronic winter iciness. In addition, more than 4,000 feet of Johnson Road from Route 7 to Beebe Hill has been repaved and new guardrails installed.

The repaved section of Johnson Road was reclaimed, meaning the layers of old pavement were removed down to the stone base. Since the road has been repaved so many times over the years, its level has risen considerably, so the DOT recommended the reclamation.

In other business:

• Ann Cofone, the town’s municipal agent for the elderly, resigned effective June 28 after six-and-a-half years on the job. The board voted unanimously to hire Betty Jo Christinat as interim agent. Christinat will work 10 to 12 hours per week and will make $20 per hour.

• The board voted to appoint Beth Grayson to a regular position on the Recreation Commission.

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