Solutions to Westport’s traffic woes may move more slowly than the vehicles that race around town.
But they’re coming.
That was one of the messages delivered at last night’s Traffic Pedestrian Safety public meeting.
Three dozen residents — many of them RTM representatives and other town officials — heard members of the Traffic & Pedestrian Task Force, and an outside consulting firm, describe steps they’ve already taken, and will take, to address the thorny issue.
The task force, created by 1st Selectwoman Jen Tooker, was represented by Public Works director Pete Ratkiewich, Police Corporal Al D’Amura and Deputy Chief Ryan Paulsson, Deputy Fire Chief Nick Marsan, town operations director Tom Kiely, and town engineer Keith Wilberg.
Four members of the Tighe & Bond engineering firm presented too.
Traffic & Pedestrian Safety Task Force members (from left) Pete Ratkiewich, Al D’Amurra, Ryan Paulsson, Nick Marsan and Keith Wilberg, last night at Town Hall.
Increased traffic enforcement — particularly around schools — has led to 3,580 traffic stops since October: a 39% increase. More than 170 of those stops have been made on Easton Road, near Coleytown Middle and Elementary Schools.
That’s a direct result of the 4 police officers assigned to Westport’s 8 schools (Staples/Bedford, Coleytown Middle and Elementary, Kings Highway/Saugatuck and Long Lots/Greens Farms), Paulsson said.
In addition, several sidewalks have been built, crosswalks have been designated, and no-parking zones created.
A map showed that traffic enforcement takes place all over Westport. “It’s not just on the Post Road,” Deputy Chief Ryan Paulsson noted. (Photos/Dan Woog)
A $562,500 grant — 75% of it federal, 25% local — will help Tighe & Bond devise a safety action plan by next February.
It may include traffic enforcement cameras, at selected locations. State legislation passed recently now allows municipalities to install the devices. But there are many stipulations, such as demonstrated need. Westport is moving forward to qualify, Paulsson said.
Data collection on accidents and “hot spots” continues, the consultants explained. There have been 2,944 motor vehicle accidents over the past 5 years, with 5 fatalities and 37 serious injuries.
Among the most troublesome areas: the Post Road, and Riverside and Saugatuck Avenues.
Twenty-eight involved pedestrians, while 6 involved bicyclists.
The “interactive survey map” has been helpful. Over 1,350 people have logged on, to register complaints and comments, and offer solutions.
Many involve the Post Road, Riverside Avenue, Main Street, Compo Road North and Cross Highway. Low responses have come from the northwest (Redcoat Road) and southeast (Greens Farms) sections of town.
The survey is open until May 10. Click here to see and respond.
In the public portion of the meeting, several RTM members spoke about their districts’ concerns.
Congestion, dangerous drivers and poor visibility were mentioned frequently.
Bicyclists were not forgotten. RTM member Peter Gold asked for debris to be cleared from roadsides, potholes filled and vegetation removed, so that cyclists would not have to veer into roadways.
Bike Westport co-founder Markus Marty urged the creation of more bike lanes, noting studies that show narrower lanes lead to safer streets.
(Click here for Westport’s Traffic & Pedestrian Safety page.)
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Has the Westport Police Department described its policies on tickets vs. warnings? The thousands of “enforcement actions” in the traffic safety report, which Dan linked to, contrast with the few citations reported here each week, a few hundred per year, for speeding, failing to stop, etc. Do the thousands of others receive a written warning, or only an oral warning (no written record)? Why?
If a driver is stopped for speeding, the driver won’t be surprised to get a speeding ticket. Sure, we all want to catch a break, but if a driver is pulled over for a moving violation, and the officer is at the window, shouldn’t the officer write a ticket 100 percent of the time? Wouldn’t that be the most effective, and fairest, form of enforcement?
Has the department studied a year’s tickets and warnings to determine who gets a warning, and who gets a break, looking at factors such as the age, sex, race, and residence (in town or out of town) of the driver, and type of vehicle?
Was the philosophy or policy of the WPD on tickets and warnings explained at the forum?
Mr. Dedman has a point in his comments. By the WPD’s own count last week there were 19-20 motor vehicle arrests. Same week for Fairfield PD there were 350 mv arrests made. For years WPD used to issue well over 5000 tickets a year. What is the current policy?
I must be missing something about the “traffic study” stuff and the bitching about “congestion” on our roads…aren’t we all the cause of that congestion? Folks move to town with 3 or 4 vehicles (all the new houses have at east three car garages), I a 53 yr resident, have too many cars to add any complaint about traffic…if folks want to reduce traffic, more parking downtown wont do it, better intersections won’t do it, traffic safety won’t do it. Only “mass transportation” will do it and Westport will never, repeat, never, have enough of that or enough people willing to use what we have to make a damned bit of difference.
All this “traffic study” bullshit is a waste of time and any expansion of parking or roadways will simply be met by an increase in cars on the road to fill the new void.
Plenty room for cops to stand at intersections and ticket offenders $500 for blocking the box !
Watch how fast and effective that is.
And I guess until we have parking solutions then there is no room in downtown to carry out the “very few” peoples dream of more downtown green space.
Nobody but a few will even utilize “added” green space in downtown..
in fact we are now being told to destroy jesup green for parking !
That is totally unacceptable.
I’m sure you agree
Perhaps a member of the Civilian Review Panel or the RTM might be privy to the police department’s policy or philosophy: Why not issue more tickets (not warnings), particularly for the moving violations that are so often the source of citizen complaints about traffic safety in Westport, Weston, and neighboring communities: failure to stop at stop signs, speeding, etc. The number of “enforcement actions” reported suggests that drivers are being stopped for violations witnessed by officers, but the much lower number of reported tickets suggests that drivers are being warned, not ticketed. Is that correct? What’s the thinking?