WALLINGFORD, Conn. -- A prestigious local private school asked the Wallingford officials on Tuesday to shut down part of a town road in an effort to enrich its science program.

Choate Rosemary Hall officials said they want to use the land around Old Durham Road as an environmental study area for students and are willing to do something for the town in return.

The stretch of Old Durham Road between East Main and Christian streets bisects a big chunk of land owned by the school. School officials said they want to use the woods, streams and fields there as open-air classrooms.

The school plans to build an environmental center off East Main Street, where about 45 students would live each year and hundreds more would come to study, Choate officials said.

But cars traveling down Old Durham Road could be a safety hazard, school officials said, which is why they want it closed down.

Wallingford resident Lee Perkins said the road is too tricky to drive down anyway.

"I think it's a great idea," he said. "Choate's a good school. It's going to benefit Wallingford as far as I'm concerned."

But another neighbor said a lot of people use the road as a cut-through to the center of town. He said it wouldn't be fair to just shut it down.

"In all due respect, it's a matter of convenience for us, so I'd like to see them maintain this road as a right-of-way for public use," resident Louis Pontecorvo said.

But Choate headmaster Ed Shanahan said the school's prepared to give the town 260 acres of open space and the opportunity for public school and Choate students to work side by side in exchange for closing the road.

"It also helps break down the sometimes stereotypes that can exist between townies and preppies, and I think anything we can do to break that down, and give them something they can have a common commitment to -- namely preserving the land -- that's part of our legacy," he said.

The headmaster planned to present the plan to the Wallingford Town Council at a meeting Tuesday night.

Shanahan said the school hopes to have the environmental center open by 2011.