Anyone who drives, walks, bicycles or scooters in Westport knows our roads are dangerous.
Now we’ve got it in writing.
Tighe & Bond — the consultants hired last year by the town to formulate a comprehensive “safe streets for all” action plan, with a $450,000 federal grant — has weighed in with their first draft.
That’s the right term. It weighs in at a hefty 83 pages.
The front cover of the Safety Action Plan draft shows downtown without — incredibly — much traffic.
Some of it is table-setting: background of the project, information about previous studies, etc.
But the Shelton-based consultants certainly reached out to the town. They researched police records, held meetings, devised surveys, and created an interactive map for residents to comment on particularly dangerous areas, offer suggestions, and even praise whatever currently works.
Westporters responded. The leading issue was driver/car safety (32%), followed by pedestrians (22%), intersections (19%) and visibility (13%). Bike, school and transit issues were also mentioned.
Residents’ responses to the interactive safety map showed concerns all over town.
There were few surprises. The highest number of motor vehicle accidents take place on the Post Road, in Saugatuck, and along North Avenue and Cross Highway.
Using a formula involving crashes, public perception and more, the consultants prioritized these roadways:
They also prioritized these intersections:
Tighe & Bond offered several policy recommendations. They include:
- Pedestrian and bicylce master plan
- Adopt red ight and/or speed cameras (recently approved by the state)
- Comprehensive street light policy
- Establish a team or dedicated person to implement and manage recommended changes, safety projects, and pursue grants.
Of 30 project recommendations, all but 2 were ranked “highest” or “high.” The top 5 are:
Kings Highway North, between Post Road and Wilton Road: pedestrian facility and sight distance improvements (estimated cost: $3-4 million)
Riverside Avenue at Bridge Street: modern roundabout ($5-6 million)
North Avenue and Long Lots Road to Cross Highway: pedestrian facility and intersection improvements ($500,000-$1 million)
Compo Road North at Evergreen Avenue; Easton Road at Bayberry Lane; Sylvan Road North at Pequot Trail; Long Lots Road at Bayberry Lane/Maple Avenue North: intersection sight distance improvements (vegetation clearing, approach realignment, and/or intersection control modifications (less than $25,000 per location)
Lower speed limit to 30 mph on town roads; consider 25 mph on commercial corridor (cost estimate not applicable).
The full list of all 30 recommendations is below:
To read the full report, click here.
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The Westport Safety Action Plan report referred to and linked to Dan’s article cites two dangerous underpasses. They are listed in table 2-4 which is presented on page 2-7 of that report. One of the underpasses listed is reported as being on Hills Point Road.
In the many years I have lived on that road, I have yet to encounter an underpass. There is, however, an overpass, and I would suspect the traffic safety issues requiring attention associated an overpass are quite different than those associated with an underpass.
Does the Town’s consulting firm subject the costly 83 page draft report to a technical review for accuracy? Are there other errors? I stopped reading after page 2-7.
Westport desperately needs a traffic light REDO‼️
Stop blaming the State. Get them down here to install left and right turn lights, align the Post Road, lengthen the green light times, and improve traffic flow. They are incompetent or lazy. Why do our leaders let them get away with this preposterous stupidity? Seriously‼️
Westport needs to do more to protect the safety of our citizens. A good place to start would be enforcement of the judgments of the tree warden and town engineer.
Westport is a town without sidewalks
Am I missing the triangle of death? Or is that not included since it is already the subject of a replacement effort by the state? Otherwise, it is hard to imagine how that possibly could not be among the top 5 priorities.
I hope they add something in terms of pedestrian safety for Partrick. It’s so narrow with its twists and turns- concerning whenever people are walking or jogging.
These are great places to start the discussion but local drivers’ attitudes about the streets and each other must change first. A few weeks ago, on a beautiful Saturday morning, my wife and I were still in our neighborhood when we were confronted by a nasty resident who nearly hit our car and then threatened my wife verbally. We stopped by the police station, but after being calmed down by the officer, we decided not to report the incident, mostly for fear of retaliation. C’mon Westport, we can do better!
Thank you. Easton Road (136) at Bayberry Road is a particularly dangerous intersection with lots of accidents and near accidents.
We need Cameras- at least some of these reckless motorists will get tickets.
I am really curious about the “modern roundabout” at Bridge and Riverside..