Neighbors Fear Traffic Trouble If Sacred Heart Arena Built

FAIRFIELD, CT — Some Fairfield residents are concerned a new hockey arena planned for Sacred Heart University’s West Campus could increase traffic and lower property values nearby.

Neighbors voiced their opposition at a public hearing Tuesday before the Town Plan and Zoning Commission, which must grant a special exception in order for the project to move forward.

“If the arena is allowed, the damage to this area of Stratfield cannot be undone,” Bethel Rooney said during the hearing, held remotely via Webex.

The proposed 122,580-square-foot arena would be located 3135 Easton Turnpike, and would have 759 parking spaces and a capacity of 3,621 spectators, according to architect Kevin Herrick. When the project was announced a year ago, it was anticipated to cost $60 million. The facility is projected to be completed in about 18 months, according to attorney Bill Fitzpatrick, who represented Sacred Heart before the commission.

In terms of pre-existing traffic, Jefferson Street east of Route 59 near the arena site saw 636 vehicles between 6 and 7 p.m. on a Friday night in February before the coronavirus pandemic, according to traffic engineer Michael Galante. At full capacity, the arena would generate 809 additional Friday evening vehicle trips on Route 59.

“There is traffic on these roads, I’m not going to say there is not,” Galante said.

A full-capacity game at the arena would increase traffic at neighboring intersections by as much as 71.4 percent at Route 59 and Jefferson Street, although traffic growth was projected to be as low as 15.7 percent at Park Avenue and the university’s main access drive.

“We can accommodate this traffic for this arena for a full-capacity game,” Galante said.

In most cases, the arena would be well below capacity, Sacred Heart representatives said, with closer to 500 or 1,000 people attending games. However, commissioners and residents alike had concerns.

“There are going to be times when the use of the facility is going to cause some pretty pained congestion,” Chair Matthew Wagner said. “At what point is it too much?

Resident Robert Fuda worried sports fans would park on Jefferson Street if they couldn’t find a spot closer to the arena, and that the facility could lead to increased theft and vandalism. Alexandra McHale had similar concerns.

“I already have drunken groups of students walking up and down Jefferson now,” she said. “I cannot imagine what will happen if we have hockey games and concerts going on down there.”

FitzPatrick assured the commission the arena would be used mainly for hockey, as opposed to concerts or theater performances, and noted that in a pending settlement with the Stratfield Falls Association of nearby condominium owners, the university agreed to employ police to direct game-day traffic. The 56-foot building would be constructed tucked into a slope and therefore would not create a visual disturbance, he said.

“The neighborhood impact will not change in any demonstrable fashion, period,” FitzPatrick said.

Dylan O’Connor, co-president of the Stratfield Village Association, spoke favorably of the university and the project, explaining Sacred Heart contacted the group early in the process, and responded to neighbors’ questions about traffic, visibility and use, even attending a 100-person town hall meeting.

“From the standpoint of the Stratfield Village Association, Sacred Heart addressed all of our concerns,” he said.

Rooney had a different experience.

“Nobody in my area of Weeping Willow (Lane), this general area, was contacted,” she said, adding she learned about the project in December, which is when the public hearing process that continued Tuesday first began.

Wagner, who noted many public comments were filed on record regarding the arena, proposed the commission consider adding a condition to the project’s approval, requiring that neighbors receive notice about arena events expected to draw large crowds. The commission will vote on whether to approve the arena at a future meeting.