Last Saturday’s traffic was INSANE. In late afternoon, it took one “06880” reader half an hour to travel from McDonald’s to downtown. Another spent 40 minutes getting from the Post Road to the train station.
Side roads were no better. Cars backed up on Cross Highway from Weston Road all the way to Bayberry Lane.
This was a particularly bad Thanksgiving weekend mess. But more and more, it’s the norm.
An alert “06880” who asked to be identified as GS has had enough. He writes:
I’ve lived in town a long time. I’ve seen the traffic get worse and worse.
You can’t get from here to there anymore. I envision a not-too-distant future in which our property values go down, because traffic has become what Westport is best known for.
One familiar scene …
Anyone who was on the road last Saturday around 6 p.m. can attest: You could have gotten where you were going faster walking than driving.
Do you commute to and from New York by car? It used to be that once you got past Stamford, you were home free. Now you spend 20 minutes just between exits 40 and 41 on the Merritt.
If you’re on I-95 and get off at Exit 17, you’re dead in the water. If you continue on to 18, there is a 5-minute backup on the exit ramp.
Heading from Cross Highway toward Exit 42 at the wrong time of day? That’s a joke. I could go on and on.
and another.
For starters, there has to be an immediate ban on development. More people equals more cars.
Then you have to systematically examine the traffic patterns of every intersection, and the timing of every light. Yes, I’m sorry, you will need to replace some of those stop signs with traffic lights.
A few traffic officers stationed in the right places at the right times of day would provide some relief.
We need a plan, and it has to start with limiting new buildings.
Maybe we need to form a special commission. Or perhaps appoint a traffic czar.
Whatever we decide, we have to do something. Traffic in Westport has reached a crucial point.
