Proposed roundabouts on Route 82 would improve traffic flow, reduce crashes, and make the 1 1/4-mile strip more inviting to customers of the many businesses, but some businesses would be displaced and others would see their properties reduced by eminent domain takings, according to testimony at a public hearing Monday night. The comments were made after officials from the state Department of Transportation gave an hour-long presentation to the City Council and about 40 members of the public on the plan to reconstruct Route 82-West Main Street and a portion of Salem Turnpike with six roundabouts and a median divider to prevent left turns. The plan calls for two phases of construction, with the first three roundabouts at the eastern edge of the strip from Asylum Street to Pine Street, to be done first, starting in 2024. The second phase, from Pine Street to just past the busy New London Turnpike intersection, would be done in 2026.
https://www.theday.com/article/20200302/NWS01/200309865