It’s no secret — unfortunately — that when I-95 backs up, Greens Farms Road can be an alternate route.
Neighborhood residents don’t like it. But — in this age of Waze and other traffic apps — there’s nothing they can do about it.
That did not stop one man from trying.
Alert “06880” reader Josh Stein reports:
Driving southbound yesterday on Greens Farms Road, I came upon a car parked perpendicular across both travel lanes.
I thought there was an accident. I ran up to the car, and was greeted by a man who said he represents the Greens Farms Association.
I’m sure he doesn’t. But, Josh continues:
He said was protesting through traffic. Dozens of cars were stopped.
A less congested view of the area on Greens Farms Road where a vigilante stopped traffic yesterday.
When Josh returned home, the same thing happened. He called the Westport Police Department. They arrived quickly.
Apparently, Josh says:
This guy has been doing this all week. The police are aware of him.
He actually accelerated and aimed his car at me this second time. He has a large dog in his back seat. The first time he blocked both lanes of traffic, he was in front of 286 Greens Farms Road. This second time he was in front of 350 Greens Farms Road or thereabouts. He told the officer he lives on Greens Farms Road, in the 300s.
No, we don’t like what Waze is doing to our town.
But there must be better “ways” to address the problem than this.
We didn’t have Waze in the 1970’s-80’s either, but the same sort of traffic diversion was happening them, too. so…
Westport Loves “calming humps”, add some.
What would happen if someone had a medical situation and they were rushing to get to Norwalk Hospital? How does this person know who’s bypassing I-95 and who legitimately lives in Greens Farms Road? We do know one thing for sure though- This person is a LOSER! If you find out who the loser is, please show him my comment.
I agree. Not only could the perp’s actions delay a patient going to the hospital (Norwalk or Bridgeport) but it could also delay emergency response or on-call doctors responding to an emergency.
I do know the name and address of the perp. I shared it with Dan and Art. Dan opted not to post it and I will respect that. If Dan says its fine for me to share, I am happy to do so. I suggested to Art that if the guy does not represent his Association that the Association issue a Cease & Desist.
Thanks, Josh. I would prefer that his name not be published. He’s a vigilante, but I don’t want one of my readers to go out and vigilante him. It’s best if the town’s law enforcement handles this professionally.
Joshua we are in touch with him as well. I do not want to say any more.
Art Schoeller
I would be that by now, that white Mercedes is in the garage and the stupid, thoughtless, myopic and anti social ass hole who owns it wishes he had left it there in the first place.
I was in that mess. Trying to get home from the
Greens Farms train station.
It was awful.
Last night, I was cornered by, presumably, the same man — driving a white Mercedes and with a golden retriever in the back seat. I was driving north bound on Green Farms rd. with my tween daughter in the back seat, when the Mercedes slowed down to a crawl for a few minutes and then came to a complete halt, right after Maple. At first I assumed this was a driver who was lost, looking for an address or drunk. I tried to pass him, and he swirled out in the middle of the road to block me. At this point I actually started feeling quite uncomfortable, wondering if this was some kind of car-jacking. Several cars, and the shuttle bus, were now approaching behind me, so I dared to drive up on the right side of the Mercedes and pull down my window and asked what he was doing. Answering back was an aggressive man saying “this is not a service road.” When I answered back that I actually live here (not that it really matters), he seemed a bit confounded — as if “why would anyone who lives here actually drive on the roads,” and answered back “You do?” The irony is that I wasn’t even speeding, and there was not much traffic on Green Farms. I understand it’s annoying, and dangerous, for anyone to have speeding cars going by their front doors, but this is a crazy situation. Perhaps it’s an opportunity for the town to look at what can be done about speeding cars on the towns surface streets in general.
Did you call the police / file a complaint? I too would be concerned about someone pulling out in front / blocking. I was initially separated by multiple vehicles both times but if I was the first one getting blocked in, thoughts other than this is an accident/medical emergency/DUI could have crossed my mind (i.e. car-jacking / targeted attack / etc).
I will note that during both incidents that I witnessed, I did not see any commercial vehicles/trucks in the backed up traffic. People definitely speed and its not just 5-10 over but I have seen some vehicles (even trucks) go flying by at 60+ mph which is double the limit. I have seen WPD doing marked patrols on Greens Farms Road. So they are definitely not ignoring the issue. I also have to give them credit that WPD targeted another road immediately after I contacted them with concerns.
In this case, I do not know whether the perp was arrested or how they are handling the situation but perhaps if they need more witnesses/complainants to take action, it might be worth you giving them a call or shooting them an email offering.
Thanks for your comments Josh. I did call the Westport Police dept. when I arrived to my destination about five minutes later. The dispatcher responded that someone had already called about the situation and that an officer was now at the site speaking with “the man in the white Mercedes.” As uncomfortable and bizarre as the incident was, I guess I feel I’m satisfied with the police keeping it at the level of “speaking with the man” at this point. I don’t know the man’s circumstances and what drove him to this behavior, but I think we can all agree that it was irrational. Hopefully the police talking to him made him come to his senses.
To everyone else who has commented on this incident, I would suggest keeping it to the issue at hand: traffic problems in Westport and traffic problems driving some, or at least one, resident to the brink of irrational and potential dangerous behavior. Perhaps this incident can push the town to having some constructive and pragmatic discussions about what to do about congestions and speeding problems in Westport. The speeding issues is a huge one.
If the police are aware of this why hasn’t this menace been arrested?
Good way for him to get beaten up or shot in this day and age. This guy’s inciting road rage and will likely be the victim. He’s lucky he lives in Westport where most people are still relatively civil.
I would suggest traffic bumps (or humps), but that is up to the Police, I believe.
Bobbie, I used to think that speed bumps, (I’ve heard them called “Sleeping Policemen” in the Virgin Islands) were a good traffic control method until someone pointed out that fire trucks and ambulances must slow down over them, too, wasting precious time that could mean life or death.
False imprisonment involves intentionally restricting another person’s freedom of movement. Next time call the police and get the PATHETIC LOSER arrested!
I live on a side street just off of Greens Farms Road. Greens Farms Road traffic has become such a problem, that I’ve had difficulty pulling out of my street to get to work. The other day I counted 40 cars passing before I was able to accelerate quickly to even get out of my street. The cars were so closely packed that even with a small gap in the traffic it was quite dangerous pulling out.
Side roads were not designed to be pass-throughs. Something needs to be done. While not the best answer, maybe it’s time to install traffic lights and/or speed bumps on these roads so Waze and other Apps don’t suggest these routes as alternatives.
Hi Dan,
Thank you for clarifying the lack of a Greens Farms Association role in these incidents. For the record let me emphatically state we had no role in this activity. Our mission, “dedicated to preserving and enhancing the residential quality of life in the Green’s Farms area” certainly moves us to be concerned about both traffic volume AND speed on Greens Farms Road. But this very mission disallows us from creating a public safety issue for our neighbors and members. That said after lengthy months of lobbying the town of Westport to address these concerns the issue still remains and has reached a boiling point. More needs to be done, and sooner than later.
Art Schoeller
President
Greens Farms Association
Arthur, just HOW do you suggest the town address the issue….ANYONE can traverse your roads or any public road and the town cannot do a damned thing about it…nor should they…..lights, yes; speed bumps, yes; each of which will only leave the traffic in your neighborhood longer….but keep the cars off your roads, no way, Art.
So let me see if I understand this correctly. Greens Farms Association doesn’t want Westport residents driving on Greens Farms road because there is too much traffic on “their” road. On what date did you lay claim to Greens Farms road? If that’s the case, I have to assume that your association pays for the maintenance, police presence and snow plowing of this road? Could you please let us know how much that is so myself and other residents can begin deducting the portion of our property taxes which is being used to pay for these services. Just curious, which Association will be next to lay claim to a road because they don’t like the amount of traffic on “their” road. This has to be one of the most absurd ideas I’ve heard in a very long time.
Its funny but I always thought that there were three main east-west thoroughfares through Westport each heading to one of the three crossings over the Saugatuck River. Greens Farms Road heading to Bridge Street bridge, Post Road heading to Rte 1 bridge and Cross Highway heading ultimately to the Kings Highway Bridge. Everything else was laid out more haphazardly with those being the primaries.
Of course, I suppose everything was pretty much rural when they were originally laid out.
My family moved to greens farms in 1959…..moved on by 1985… I’m so happy not to be there now…… traffic….. attitudes… No thanks.
I guess we’re glad you’re not there, also, Billy.
In 2017, Leonia, NJ, banned non-resident traffic on certain roads during peak hours because drivers were looking for shortcuts to the George Washington Bridge. Crossing guards stood watch and the town issued $200 tickets to lawbreakers. I’m not sure if the traffic ban is still in effect.
The town of Leonia did indeed enact that “restriction.” The town received legal action, which was upheld in the courts (they couldn’t restrict access). But the Waze apps did impact the community.
In Santa Rosa, CA a few years ago they had a similar problem (a few years before Leonia’s action). The local residents fought back electronically via putting in accidents or stopped traffic so Waze would re-route off the local streets. It was quite clever.
Can’t help but notice there is a cloud of anxiety& tension in the air. Everyone always wants things to get better but they don’t want things to change. The dilemma is that things do get better but people don’t change. Too often people believe if things go backwards it makes it better. I believe the anxiety in the air is the frighteningly precarious times we live in without clarity, mission, or a sense of stability here or in the world. As the world becomes more polarized the symptoms of anxiety become more obvious, I’d equate this man actions to everyone’s need to control their lives. He’s is the face or symptom of the malaise.
Wow…such a thoughtful and complicated look at the guy’s motives and inner most turmoil leading to his anti social behavior.
I’d simply say the prick thinks he owns the road and is way out of line.
Dan – And with that comment, you may have just won Westport’s corner of the internet for the day.
anti social behavior is usual and customary in the USA. Our leaders are excellent role models of deviant anti social behavior. Listen to their rhetoric carefully. They motivate and encourage citizens. Embrace it. You voted for this. Its going to get far worse.
Agreed ,and I sure did not vote for it but fear, with ample reason, Trump will win again.
i agree. Democrats need a strong centrist candidate to win swing states. Otherwise Trump will likely win again. America deserves what they want.
at the army navy game that Trump attended yesterday, the pentagon has video of cadets sitting behind Trump showing the White supremacy hand gestures You can follow the story in The New York Times. You voted voted for this. Evangelicals and orthodox Jews support this man. Embrace it. Political leadership and their rhetoric is encouraging deviant behavior. Imagine a Staples principal telling kids if your rich and famous you can grab woman by the P during a graduation ceremony. Imagine a teacher standing up and protesting and the principal says in the old days at school we would knock his block off and I will pay your medical bills if you do it. Imagine that rhetoric in 06880. This is what we have now. The man in the white Mercedes is responsible for his actions. Wilton High School chanting build a wall to Latino players on another team is responsible and Fairfield Prep Kids sitting in the stands shouting Jewish slurs at a lacrosse game are responsible. Our government leaders are fueling and pouring gasoline on anti social behavior and on a 24 hour basis are desensitizing unethical anti social deviant behavior. I believe if a change is not made in our countries leadership decency will be a thing of the past. Embrace it. America deserves it.
Stop with fueling and spreading lies. If you were a kid or knew any of the younger generation you would know that the sign shown is a game with the kids and if you get caught looking at it you get hit. It’s been this way since I was a child. Unbelievable that a traffic issue in Westport CT has comments about the President. Get over it because he will be the President for several more years.
tell the military. They are investigating it, Its exactly Mr Smiley understanding that is disappointing to me. Why is the military investigating it? Why is the anti defamation league speaking out? Why are newspapers such as the conservative Wall St Journal covering it. But Mr Smiley already has the facts. It is my lie that Mr Smiley states I am spreading. Here you go 06880. Embrace it. Anti social deviant behavior is now normal and defended as acceptable.
Now it’s the traffic on Greens Farms road and the reactions to it that are Trumps fault…
TDS…it’s a disease.
Yup keep voting for the wonderful Democratic Party. They have done so good for your wonderful state. Maybe your wonderful Democrats in Connecticut could learn from Trump since you’ll have him for 5 more years. Just more whining liberals in Westport.
they fail to answer with facts. That is trump way. USA USA USA
This is the capitalism he asked for. Fairytales of eternal economic growth will always come with more development, more cars, more traffic, more people, more others. His retirement accounts profit off all of this.
Who?
Somehow we got off the topic and turned this into a discussion about Trump. I’m going to take this a step further and talk about the skyrocketing national debt! It grew around a trillion this year alone, and up about 20 percent in the past three years. I pity the next President! As I view this, either there needs to be massive spending cuts, or the dollar needs to be devalued, or the government needs to default. Feel free to comment.
republicans are extinct. I agree with you. This is the reputincan party. Your post is full of wisdom based on facts.
Brilliant guy, protesting people causing traffic on “his” road, by….
…
…
causing more traffic on that road?! genius!
Dan, is he still doing it?
I drove on Greens Farms Road from South Bulkley to Riverside and it was totally empty, except for me.
Sorry — it was around noon.