Tag Archives: Wilton Road

And The Signs Say …

Posted on June 28, 2026 | 24 comments

Sign, signEverywhere a signBlockin’ out the sceneryBreakin’ my mindDo this, don’t do thatCan’t you read the sign?

Not much has changed since the 5 Man Electrical Band’s 1971 lament.

If anything, it’s gotten worse.

Signs get put up everywhere in Westport. They never get taken down.

So those from, say, 1971, still clutter our roadways.

We’ve gotten used to them. We don’t even notice them. But they’re there.

Consider this one, on Wilton Road:

(Photo/Dan Woog)

There are a couple of things wrong with this.

  1. School buses are always stopped ahead. That’s how they roll. If we had a sign for every bus stop here, there would be a global metal shortage.
  2. I highly doubt that, even in 1971, this sign ever flashed when a school bus stopped. That’s just fantasy.

There’s a newer — but equally obsolete — sign on Roseville Road, headed to McDonald’s.

“Construction Ahead,” it warns. “Road Use Restricted. State Liability Limited.”

It was valid during the 27 centuries that the Post Road renovation project was underway.

But it’s been finished for months. There is indeed improvement at the Roseville and Hillspoint intersections.

Now it’s time to recycle the sign, for another project somewhere else.

Then there’s the laughable “5 MPH” sign at Staples High School, heading toward the fieldhouse by the parking lot hill.

(Photo/Dan Woog)

It’s almost impossible to drive 5 miles an hour. The average speed of someone walking is 3 MPH.

My speedometer does not even show 5 MPH. It starts at 10.

So what’s next?

Let’s ask our town officials — 1st selectman, Public Works director, Police — to get rid of every outdated, superfluous, meaningless, or otherwise cluttering-up-our-landscape sign.

In a town and era in which everyone yaps about everything, this would unite every Westporter, of every age and political persuasion, in joy and wonder.

And how will they know which signs to uproot and unscrew?

This is an “06880” crowdsourcing project. Readers: Click “Comments” below. Let our leaders know which signs you think should be removed.

Westport: We can do this All signs point to victory!

PS: After we’re done with “official” signs, we can tackle those on private property.

Let’s start with this:

 

Seriously? Has this ever happened in Westport?

I’m so sure it didn’t, I’ll give a free 1-year subscription to “06880” to anyone who can prove otherwise.

See how easy it is to make stuff up?!

(We’re not making this up: “06880” relies on reader support. Please click here to make a tax-deductible donation — and show us a “sign” that you like our work. Thank you!)

24 Comments

Posted in Staples HS, Transportation, Westport life

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[OPINION] With Focus On Cribari Bridge Traffic, Don’t Forget Another Mess

Posted on April 25, 2026 | 16 comments

While Westport’s attention is focused on the Cribari Bridge — and the traffic issues that already plague Saugatuck — an “06880” reader urges us not to forget about the “worst intersection” in town (and perhaps the state).

That is, of course, the cluster**** that is Riverside Avenue, Wilton Road and Post Road West. The reader writes:

Below is a 5 p.m. Google Maps screenshot of “live” traffic on the Tuesday of school vacation last week.

Wilton Road at top; Riverside Avenue at bottom; Post Road West cutting through.

I can only imagine how red the lines will be now that schools are back in session, and everyone rushes to get home from school, work and play.

A quick AI search on “06880” turns up several suggestions, offered in the past:

Traffic Officers: Some suggest assigning police officers or traffic agents to direct traffic, especially during peak hours. This has been noted to significantly improve traffic flow at similar problematic intersections, such as the Cribari Bridge. (Click here for a previous “06880” story.)

Traffic Light Timing and Configuration: Many readers suggest altering the timing of traffic lights to allow for better flow. One idea is to have green lights for only one direction at a time (e.g., green for northbound Wilton Road traffic only, then green for Post Road West traffic only; then green only for the other 3 streets, moving counter-clockwise one at a time. That would prevent backups caused by cars waiting to turn while opposing traffic is also trying to move. (Click here for a previous “06880” story.)

Installing a left-turn arrow for cars on Wilton Road turning onto Post Road West has also been suggested. (Click here for a previous “06880” story.)

An all-too-typical scene on Wilton Road.

Road Widening and Lane Adjustments: Past opportunities were missed to widen the road or create turning lanes by acquiring properties at the intersection corners. While difficult now, widening the road, particularly at the intersection of Wilton Road and the Post Road, could create a much-needed right turning lane. (Click here for a previous “06880” story.)

Many of these suggestions involve state roads, which means changes require the Connecticut Department of Transportation’s planning, funding, and approval. (Click here for a previous “06880” story.)

In the mid-2010s, David Waldman proposed a creative solution: move the building at the corner northwest corner of Wilton Road and the Post Road — at that point, it was a liquor store — to create a turning lane.

Town officials turned him down.

Now, in 2026, the state is looking to acquire 77 square feet with eminent domain at the same location, according to recent media reports.

The Department of Transportation would install Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant sidewalks ramps, and a pedestrian push button there.

Aerial view of the intersection — without, remarkably, any traffic.

But instead of incremental tweaks to lights and sidewalks, why don’t we take time — and perhaps one of the Cribari Bridge Committees — to engage with DOT and the town, for a holistic look at the intersection for more permanent solutions?   

It may be expensive to buy and/or move buildings (including, perhaps, the one at the foot of Post Road West on the eastbound side, where traffic turns sharply onto Riverside Avenue). That’s another solution proposed in the past.

But unless we build another bridge, in addition to the Cribari Bridge changes or bore a tunnel under the Saugatuck River, the traffic problems will continue to get worse in Westport.

Who is interested in shaping another solution to make Westport safer and faster?

(“06880” regularly covers transportation, local politics, real estate — and, like today, their “intersection.” If you appreciate stories like this, please click here to support our work. Thank you!)

16 Comments

Posted in Downtown, Saugatuck, Transportation

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Lighting Up Traffic

Posted on November 17, 2024 | 11 comments

If there is one thing Westporters agree on, it’s that our traffic light system is broken.

This light stays red too long. This one is not green long enough. Why isn’t there a left-turn arrow here? Why can’t I go right on red there?

And, always: Why doesn’t the town do something about it?

The answer is frustratingly simple: It can’t. They’re not our lights.

According to Representative Town Meeting member Andrew Colabella, there are 123 miles of town roads. 66 miles are private, and only 18.5 miles belong to the state.

But nearly every traffic light in Westport hangs over a state road.

Post Road East and West. Saugatuck and Riverside Avenues. Wilton Road. Easton Road. You name it: If there’s a light on it, odds are astronomical it belongs to the Connecticut Department of Transportation.

Call Town Hall about a traffic problem? They’re not our lights!

In fact, Andrew says, the only traffic lights the town controls are on Main Street at Avery Place and Myrtle Avenue, the Saugatuck fire station, and — because it’s a special, controllable light — the one at Fire Department headquarters.

So, if you have concerns — immediate (a light is out) or long-range (change the timing), the state DOT is the agency to call.*

But it’s a bureaucracy, so (of course) there are 2 separate jurisdictions.

The state DOT garage (next to Walgreens, across from Patio.com) handles all work orders from their driveway westward (to the Norwalk line). Their number is 203-227-7692.

Everything east of the state DOT garage is done by the Trumbull garage: 203-380-3836).

Traffic light concerns or electrical issues? Call 203-878-1869.

*Looking for ideas? Here’s one. Make each cycle at the Post Road West/ Riverside Avenue/Wilton Road cluster**** green for one side only, and red for the other three.

In other words, if you’re on Wilton Road, with Bartaco on your left, you get a green light to go any direction — left or right on the Post Road, straight ahead onto Riverside — while traffic is stopped in the other direction.

Then the cars coming down the Post Road West hill get their own green — to turn left or right, or go straight over the bridge — while everyone else stops.

Etc., etc. 

It’s the only way to prevent back-ups, while cars wait for those in front to turn — but they can’t, because vehicles coming from the opposite direction are trying to do the same. 

Hey, it’s worth a try. The current system is broken. 

Right now, an entire cycle can pass with cars waiting for one to turn in any direction from Wilton Road, Post Road West or Riverside Avenue.

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Roundup: Flooding, Northern Lights …

Posted on March 10, 2024 | 6 comments

Yesterday’s rain was an annoyance to many Westporters.

To residents of Saugatuck Shores, it meant another high tide flood.

This was the scene looking north on Canal Road:

(Photo/Matt Fortuna)

A few hours later, Canal Road looked like this:

(Photo/Yulee Aronson)

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The Brubeck Brothers Quartet rocked the Westport Library last night, for a special fundraiser. Proceeds support the Library’s vast array of free programs and offerings.

The Brubeck Brothers Quartet is led by Chris (bass and trombone) and Dan Brubeck (drums), sons of the jazz legend who lived in Wilton. They recorded their first album in 1966. Rounding out the group is guitarist Mike DeMicco and pianist Chuck Lamb.

Chris told stories about the family. Home movies added to the warm atmosphere.

The group has performed across North America and Europe, including Newport, Detroit, Montreal, The Hollywood Bowl, and Monterey Jazz festivals.

Now they can add the Westport Library to the list.

Brubeck Brothers Quartet, at the Westport Library. (Photo/Dinkin Fotografix)

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Last year, 7-year-old Evelyn Sullivan was a leading participant in the Westport Weston Family YMCA Race4Chase triathlon training program. It honors Chase Kowalski, a victim of the Sandy Hook shooting.

Head coach  Robin Myers worked with Evelyn and 18 other youngsters, strengthening their swimming, biking and running skills, while they enjoyed team building and learned about nutrition.

Evelyn and her mother Sarah raised over $700 for the Chase Michael Anthony Kowalski Foundation. Illness and bad weather kept her from her first 2 triathlons, but she’s resilient. She’s ready for this summer.

The Race4Chase program returns to the Y this summer — at no cost to participants. It runs 5 days a week from June 24 to August 2, from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. For more information, and registration, click here.

Westport Y 2023 Race4Chase triathlon program participants.

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Sure, the new apartments going up on Wilton Road at Kings Highway North corner have everyone talking about the massive change coming to the already congested intersection, a few yards from wetlands.

But it wouldn’t be worth an “06880” photo without the massive amount of utility lines, hanging all around the site.

(Photo/Terry Brannigan)

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In the waning days of winter, “Northern Lights” come to the Unitarian Universalist Congregation in Westport.

That’s the name of a concert this Friday (March 15, 7:30 p.m.). It features choral and bell music inspired by the Northern Lights, stars and sky, plus music and composers from northern countries.

Tickets are $25 in advance and $30 at the door; click here to purchase. Children and students are free.

Northern Lights

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We’re a long way from Thanksgiving.

But yesterday was Turkey Day at St. Vincent’s Health Services on Long Lots Road.

Meredith Holod caught all the action, for our “Westport … Naturally” feature.

(Photo/Meredith Holod)

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And finally … in honor of yesterday’s flock (photo above):

 (“06880” is your hyper-local blog — and we rely on reader support. Please click here to make a tax-deductible contribution. Thank you!)

 

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Posted in Children, Entertainment, Library, religion, Sports, YMCA

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Friday Flashback #386

Posted on February 16, 2024 | 8 comments

Tuesday’s weather — the first significant snowfall in over 2 years — reminded us that despite climate change, we still can get whacked.

There was a lot more snow in the 1930s, when this photo was taken. It was before 1938 — the year the Merritt Parkway opened, which itself was 20 years prior to I-95 (known then as the Connecticut Turnpike or “Thruway”).

The Post Road was the only way to drive between New York and New Haven (and points beyond, like Hartford and Boston). Traffic — including trucks — was terrible, folks who remember those days say.

Our current woes, in other words, are not new.

Look closely at the vehicles in the image above. They had none of the modern safety features we rely on today. You needed chains on tires. Wipers, heaters and defrosters worked poorly.

It didn’t look the plow guys had been out, either.

So the next time you’re stuck at that terrible Post Road West/Riverside Avenue/ Wilton Road corner, think about those folks in the 1930s.

It was a long way to Boston.

(Friday Flashback is a weekly “06880” feature. We also regularly cover transportation news. If you enjoy it — or anything else we do — please click here to support our work. Thank you!)

8 Comments

Posted in Friday Flashback, Transportation

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Many Hands Make Lights Work

Posted on July 20, 2021 | 26 comments

During COVID, Westport’s eerily empty streets were a joy to drive.

A sad joy, to be sure. The other side of our unimpeded ride was knowing that so many friends and neighbors were stuck home, inside, with nowhere at all to go.

Now — thanks to vaccinations, warm weather and pandemic fatigue — traffic is back.

And it’s worse than ever.

For hours a day, backups stretch everywhere: from Route 1 and 33 almost to Fresh Market. Canal and Main Streets. All of Saugatuck.

No one can say for sure why it’s this bad. But driving in Westport really, really sucks.

Waiting in line at the Imperial Avenue light. (Photo/Dick Lowenstein)

With time on my hands the other day — I wasn’t going anywhere — I tried to think of solutions.

I wouldn’t wish another townwide quarantine on anyone. Banning Waze is not an option. (I’m as hypocritical as the rest of Westport: I happily use the app to avoid highway traffic by driving through other towns.)

So I did the next best thing. I came up with a few ideas.

For example:

Alternate red and green lights at both Wilton Road and Riverside Avenue. The awkward dance between cars heading northbound and southbound doesn’t work. One car trying to turn left from Wilton Road onto the Post Road — or left from Riverside onto Post Road West — can hold up a dozen cars behind it. So why not have green for only northbound traffic; then only green for southbound traffic; followed by what we’ve got now (first a “left turn only” for eastbound and westbound drivers, then a full green for both).

What’s the holdup? Some dude at the front of this line, trying to turn left onto the Post Road. (Photo/David Waldman)

Add a “left turn only” for drivers on South Compo, going westbound on Bridge Street. Traffic now routinely backs up under the railroad bridge.

At the same time, change the timing of the light. It’s too long for Greens Farms Road and Bridge Street drivers, not long enough for those on Compo South. (I know; a long light helps ease traffic on Greens Farms and Bridge Street when it’s backed up with I-95 overflow. Maybe shorter lights would effect Waze’s algorithm of suggesting that as an alternate route.)

A “left-turn only” arrow from South Compo to Bridge Street will make traffic flow as easily as it appears in this image from Google Maps.

Reconfigure the turning lane from Kings Highway North (where the Willows/ “Fort Apache” medical complex is on the right), onto Wilton Road. Right now the right lane is for right turns and cars going straight on Kings Highway. When one car in that lane heads straight, no one behind can turn right on red. Make the left lane for left turns and straight ahead; the right lane should be “right on red” only.

Another reason Kings Highway North should be “right turn on red” only: The left lane lines up more directly with its continuation past Wilton Road.

All of these ideas are beyond the scope of Westport officials. They’re state roads. So yeah, I know, I have a better chance of walking to the planet Zork than I do of seeing meaningful traffic light changes.

But a boy can dream.

(Do you have an idea for easing Westport’s traffic woes? Click “Comments” below. It won’t do any good — but at least “06880” readers can appreciate your brilliance.) 

26 Comments

Posted in Transportation, Westport life

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Be Careful Out There!

Posted on July 9, 2021 | 8 comments

The flash flooding warnings were spot on.

Several roads in Westport — the usual suspects, and others less prone to flooding — are underwater right now.

And the tide is coming in.

Wilton Road, near OKO. (Photo/Frank Rosen)

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Posted in Weather

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Photo Challenge #292

Posted on August 2, 2020 | 10 comments

On a hot Sunday last week, “06880” offered a cool view.

Harrison Gordon’s image showed the back of a Wilton Road house, near the Kings Highway North intersection. The view was from across the Saugatuck River, by Parker Harding Plaza. (Click here to see.)

The home was designed to maximize its view. As Harrison’s photo shows, it sure does.

Wendy Cusick, Bob Grant, Susan Iseman, Rich Stein, Andrew Colabella, Ralph Balducci, Diane Silfen, James Weisz, Seth Schachter, Ken Gilbertie, PK Cleary, Lynn Untermeyer Miller and Mary Ann Batsell all nailed this one. Congrats!

Before moving on to this week’s Photo Challenge, here’s a note on the one before last. It featured “Alvord Beach” — the name of Sherwood Island State Park’s East Beach, which virtually no one has ever heard of (or used). No one around here has ever heard of “Alvord,” either.

But MaryAnn Meyer — who lives not far from Sherwood Island — found an “Alvord Genealogy” online. It mentions Nelson Alvord’s home at 295 Greens Farms Road.

Nelson Alvord began a carriage-making business in Torrington, in 1835. The genealogy notes:

He was a pioneer in shipping top vehicles to Ga. These were used for distributing merchandise through the country long before the advent of railroads in that section of the South.

He built up a large business, probably the largest in the state, employing at times 125 men. Before the railroad was built through the Naugatuck Valley, he had to transport his wagons by team to New Haven, thence by water to Savannah, Ga. He continued in active business until he retired in 1863, and removed to Green’s Farms, Conn., on the shore of Long Island Sound.

See you at Alvord Beach!

Meanwhile, see if you can identify this week’s Photo Challenge. If you know where in Westport this is, click “Comments” below.

(Photo/Lee Scharfstein)

10 Comments

Posted in Beach, Downtown, Environment, Photo Challenge

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Pic Of The Day #1106

Posted on April 27, 2020 | 5 comments

Intriguing lines, at the Post Road West/Wilton Road intersection (Photo/John Videler for Videler Photography)

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Posted in Downtown, Pic of the Day

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A Bridge To Somewhere

Posted on July 18, 2019 | 31 comments

The other evening, KMS Partners threw a fundraiser for Food Rescue US.

Food trucks and a band filled the site of the former Save the Children building, on Wilton Road. Next to the real estate firm’s new headquarters, it’s the future site of an architecturally intriguing 12-unit condo complex.

As I sat next to the Saugatuck River — the sun setting, and downtown beckoning just across the way — I thought, “It’s so close. Wouldn’t it be nice to walk there?”

Parker Harding Plaza, from the west bank of the Saugatuck River. (Photo/Dan Woog)

I could have used the Ruth Steinkraus Cohen Bridge, of course. But the Post Road span is not pedestrian friendly. And it deposits you at the dicey, traffic-filled intersection with Parker Harding Plaza.

Once upon a time, there was discussion of fora pedestrian-only bridge. It was part of David Waldman’s plan to develop that Save the Children site.

Working with Roger Ferris + Partners architects, he wanted to move the house — at that point, a former yarn shop — at Wilton Road/Post Road West — to the Save the Children property. That would provide room for a turning lane at one of the state’s worst intersections.

As part of the plan, Waldman offered $100,000 toward the engineering and design of a pedestrian-only pontoon bridge.

The town rejected the idea. The developer reworked certain aspects of his design. The office portion has now been built. The condos are next.

But the landing area on the Wilton Road side is still available. A bridge could still be built, providing relaxing access from another point between the river’s west bank, and downtown. It could connect to Gorham Island, or perhaps the walkway near Rye Ridge Deli.

The walkway near Rye Ridge Deli could be one end of a pedestrian bridge across the Saugatuck River.

It’s not a novel concept. The Westport Arts Center once proposed a bridge from its then-headquarters on Riverside Avenue, to the library and Levitt Pavilion on the other side.

There are great spots to eat and shop on both sides of the river. But Westporters and visitors tend to think of them as 2 separate places.

A pedestrian bridge between Wilton Road and Parker Harding would probably cost $500,000 to $1 million.

Is the idea worth pursuing? If not, what’s another way to tie the energy and attractions of the quickly growing west bank to the close-but-sometimes-seems-so-far “downtown”?

What do you think? Click “Comments” below. We want your thoughts!

31 Comments

Posted in Downtown, People, Real estate

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