A proposal to alter the Giles Hill Road traffic pattern at Newtown Turnpike in Redding has been approved by the Board of Selectmen.  Police Chief Douglas Fuchs said all residents at a meeting in May were in support of the proposed change.  Giles Hill will be made one way off Newtown Turnpike headed toward Joel Barlow High School, while traffic headed south on Newtown Turnpike will have to take the T-intersection. 

Of the current two forks, the one southbound is not wide enough.  When drivers get to Newtown Turnpike, they can't see southbound traffic.  First Selectman Julia Pemberton says the town has been lucky that there haven't been more accidents.

She noted that some business owners were concerned with changing the Route 58 side.  Pemberton says the only concept people seemed to be supportive of was widening the branch that heads toward Barlow, other than creating a T-intersection with Route 58.  She says that would have been a massive undertaking involving the state Department of Transportation.

It does take a while for drivers to get used to a new traffic pattern so Redding will over-sign the area.  Some of the signs will be removed after a while.