The traffic island at Westport’s most confusing intersection — Weston Road/ Easton Road/Main Street — looks a bit ragged:
This is the 1st impression many visitors get, as they exit the Merritt Parkway.
A sign says that maintenance is provided by Daybreak Nursery. Unfortunately, that nearby business closed earlier this year.
Most companies and organizations that maintain the traffic islands throughout town do a great, conscientious job.
But what happens when a business shuts down, or a civic group decides it can no longer handle the task?
Our traffic islands are like our town’s front lawns. Visitors often remark on their beauty (as well as the ugly signs planted there).
But — like our own front lawns — they demand constant TLC.
This is actually emblematic of a larger, town-wide issue that has been years in the making: the steady decline of our public spaces; parks, site fixtures, gateways, greenways, parking lots, street trees (how about those death inducing mulch “tree volcanoes” at the Senior Center?) etc. Take a gander, for instance, at the River Walk in the middle of downtown Westport: poison ivy everywhere, dead/dying/invasive trees, jagged, broken irrigation lines protruding from the ground (3 years and counting), unmulched, unweeded beds, etc. etc. Then ask yourself this: “What’s the message?” While we love to talk about buying new stuff, you really don’t want to be around when the music stops. The unfortunate truth is thatWestport has a well established antipathy towards the maintenance of just about anything (unless, of course, the word “school” appears somewhere in the sentence). This is, essentially, a choice, and it could possibly, eventually, change if the choice was made to change it. One thing is for sure, no fancy consultant is going to do it for us.
“Woes of Westport” is a much more catchy title than “Lord of the Flies meets Westport”. Plus, there are many more deserted islands to choose from.
Choice is indeed a luxury.
No problem. I’ll have my crew mow it. I saw Dave Harding on Redding Road with the new SchoolHouse Nurseries! I’ll check and see if he is going to continue maintaining the garden. Looks like spring is finally here.
That is awesome. Thanks, Brad — you rock!
Brad, If you mow it, I’ll have my tree crew go in and prune all the ornamental trees and shrubs at the proper time. If there are any insect problems we will also take care of that. I’m sure David will send his workers over to weed and edge the gardens. I stopped by his new nursery yesterday on Redding Rd. and was very impressed with what he has done there. The plant material is beautiful. I wish him the best of luck. Tom Kashetta
Brad and Tom, this is the Westport we know and love!