Smart Growth for Vernon, CT
Big trouble for small towns

The Reader's Page
Journal Inquirer
February 26, 2008

The development of The Home Depot on Reservoir Road in Vernon is going to have an impact on the whole area. Tolland and Coventry residents will have to deal with an already inconvenient traffic bottleneck at Mile Hill Road by the ramps at exit 67 of Interstate 84 while going to and from work. I was wondering if an added traffic signal at the intersection of Route 31 (Mile Hill Road) and Reservoir Road has been considered as part of the unfortunate construction of Home Depot. The addition of another signal 100 feet from the existing one next to the highway is going to cause major traffic congestion to an already congested area.

The addition of added trailer trucks, box trucks, contractors, and consumers to this cramped roadway is an inconvenient disaster waiting to happen. Look at how much traffic was created in this area by McDonald's and Burger King. It is amazing how much traffic is in this area in the late afternoons as it is. How long will it take for the development of a Lowe's or some other "Big Corporate" retail outlet to be built behind Burger King? When one corporate franchise moves in, the competition always follows.

And have you ever seen the garbage that blows around the parking lots and area around Home Depot and Lowe's in Manchester? Can you imagine the amount of garbage that will be strewn about the reservoir parking area when contractors decide to take lunch breaks there before or after shopping at Home Depot?

Will Home Depot be responsible for the cost of annual water tests for contaminants in the reservoir or will that be added to Vernon residents' taxes? Isn't it amazing how existing, concerned taxpaying residents are always kicked to the curb and hung out to dry when town officials start foaming at the mouth when "Big Corporate Tax Dollars" come waltzing into any town? Big business is a cancer to small towns.

Joe Marandino Jr.
Tolland