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Advocates for Calm Traffic
Norwalk, Connecticut
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4/11/04
The Hour has recently quoted councilmen rationalizing why speed humps aren’t effective. In its editorial of Sunday, April 11 the Hour circumvents the effectiveness question, but still reaches the conclusion that “paving should take priority over humps.”
Individuals with their minds set against speed humps use whatever reasons they find to voice their opposition. In this case the precipitating factors are the start of a difficult budget season, the end of the winter season when potholes are at their worst and a new public works director who articulately points out that snow plows need to slow down for obstacles (like speed humps) in their paths.
An Associated Press article that the Hour published in its April 2 paper, with the heading “Study: Speed humps make neighborhoods safer for kids,” says it all. The study that was released in the April issue of the American Journal of Public Health found “that children who lived on streets near a speed hump were up to 60 percent less likely to be hit and injured by an automobile than youngsters in areas without them.”
Parents and compassionate-minded residents residing on Norwalk streets with speed humps already installed will confirm without any hesitation that speed humps slow traffic, make streets safer and create more desirable neighborhoods in which to live.
Laurel Lindstrom
The above letter was published in the Hour
6/17/03
Two
streets that are part of the East Avenue Neighborhood Association, Myrtle Street
and Raymond Terrace, recently received speed bumps, as did seven other
residential streets in Norwalk so far this year.
Since I live on Raymond Terrace, I know firsthand the remarkable difference that
the bumps have made. No longer do we hear the accelerating roars from motor
vehicle engines, or the shriek of breaks as a car takes the curve in the road
too rapidly. Before the speed bumps went in vehicles that were better suited to
travel on the designated commercial routes would routinely cut-through on
Raymond Terrace and Myrtle Street. Trucks, especially those with trailers
hauling landscape equipment, now avoid cutting-through. To keep from losing
their loads the ones that drive over the speed bumps slow down to about 5 miles
per hour.
The significance of these changes in driver behavior is in the improved quality
of life and level of safety for the residents that live on the streets.
I am glad that Mayor Knopp has been an active supporter of traffic calming
measures for the neighborhoods of Norwalk. Before becoming mayor he spoke at
the capital budget public hearing in April 2001 in favor of the Common Council
funding speed bumps for the first time.
As the Chairperson of Advocates for Calm Traffic (http://calmtraffic.org), a
group that formed at that time to get funding for traffic calming measures, I
was there at the public hearing with residents from all over Norwalk living on
streets made dangerous by speeding vehicles.
I want to thank the Mayor for continuing to ensure traffic calming funding.
Speed bumps help make neighborhoods safe.
Laurel Lindstrom, President
East Avenue Neighborhood Association
The above letter was published in all three local newspapers
5/11/03
Prior to, at the time of, and after the Traffic Summit was held by the mayor in Norwalk a year ago, we have been advocating for the formation of a committee that would focus on specific concerns related to schools and traffic.
Residents near Norwalk High School (NHS) have consulted with ACT. With the East Avenue Neighborhood Association we arranged a City Scan of problem areas on Strawberry Hill Avenue related to students crossing and the risk of being hit by a motor vehicle.
We have made calls to, and consulted with, Deputy Chief Palmer and Traffic Analyst Frank Mauro, promoting the idea of forming a committee of reps from involved city departments and the neighborhood to pool their ideas specific to NHS that would look at all aspects related to traffic safety and come up with a comprehensive plan with specific recommendations.
The same could be done for other schools, with parts of other schools' plans modeled after the work done at NHS.
Police Chief Harry Rilling, at the Mayor's Neighborhood Preservation Committee meeting on May 7, indicated that there has been intentions for some time to form focal committees specific to the schools. The mayor has also indicated similarly.
A Norwalk Advocate reporter heard some of the current talk related to NHS. A front page article, with photo, was the result in the May 9 paper.
The neighbors living near NHS hope that the formation of this focus committee happens sooner rather than later. There are many of us that feel the same way.
2/23/03
To
all Advocates for Calm Traffic:
When a motor vehicle is stopped for speeding by a Norwalk police officer 100% of
the fine that the driver pays currently goes to the state. Yet, the salary of
the police officer that tickets the driver is paid by the taxpayers of Norwalk.
The same is true for every municipality in Connecticut. If some of this money
from the fines was returned to the city there might be more funding and more
incentive for police officers to stop speeders.
On Friday I received a phone call from state Rep. Bob Duff's office alerting me
to a House Bill that he introduced that goes to Public Hearing this Wednesday. A
copy of the bill can be found at the end of this letter.
If you are able to attend the hearing in Hartford in front of the Planning and
Development Committee it is on Wednesday, February 26 at 11 AM in the
Legislative Office Building Room 2B. You may also call Bob's office at
1-800-842-8267
for more information regarding his introduction of this legislation to help
police have the resources to enforce the law.
If, like most of us, you are unable to make the trip to Hartford on a work day
then please email your support for this bill to the
Connecticut General Assembly - Committee Members <-- (click to go there now)
prior to the Wednesday morning public hearing.
.... wishing you calm traffic
Laurel Lindstrom,
Advocates for Calm Traffic
General Assembly
Proposed Bill No. 5572
January Session, 2003
LCO No. 385
Referred to Committee on Planning and Development
Introduced by:
REP. DUFF, 137th Dist.
AN ACT CONCERNING FINES FOR SPEEDING INFRACTIONS.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly
convened:
That revenue from fines for speeding infractions collected that exceeds revenue
from the previous year shall be remitted to the municipalities in which the
infraction complaints are issued.
Statement of Purpose:
To provide municipalities with revenue from speeding infractions committed
within such municipalities.
12/6/02
The latest word from the Department of Public Works (DPW) is that the nine streets that have 'speed bump' signs but no speed bumps won't be getting the actual bumps until the asphalt plants reopen again in the spring. Sound Construction, out of Bridgeport, had intended to put the speed bumps in the week after the signs went up, just before Thanksgiving, but ran into delays because of various concerns that residents had on some of the streets that were to receive bumps.
The asphalt plants had closed by the time the issues were resolved, so now the plan is to construct the bumps once the cold weather ends and the plants reopen. Drew Berndlmaier, Senior Engineer handling construction at the DPW, stated today that the plant reopen date is usually late March or April.
If further clarification is needed, call the DPW at 854-7791 and ask for Drew.
The nine streets that are to get speed bumps in the spring are: Jacob Street, Merrill Road, James Street, Quintard Avenue, Burchard Lane, Memory Lane, Michael Street, Myrtle Street and Raymond Terrace.
11/17/02
Speed bump signs were popping up all over Norwalk on Friday. The crews were placing them in preparation for the actual bumps that are expected to go in this week. Watching drivers approach the signs was a fun experience. They slowed down anticipating a bump that was not yet there.
11/10/02
Now that the elections are over let's watch and see if campaign promises are kept. Transportation was a popular subject. The solutions proposed were taken from a number of studies and ideas that have been discussed before the election came around. The discussion just got placed on the front burner. Transportation strategy needs to stay on the front burner if funding is going to be earmarked for the solutions we require. Once the upfront funding occurs the changes made will hopefully pay for themselves in the long run.
Locally: The City has decided on the contractor that will construct the speed bumps on the streets listed below. The contract was signed a couple of weeks ago and the work is scheduled to begin immediately, as per DPW staff.
8/14/02
The City has not forgotten about the speed bumps. The work on the nine streets, according to Dick Linnartz Principle Engineer of Design for the Department of Public Works (DPW), will be put out to bid next month. Eight of the nine streets (Jacob Street, Merrill Road, James Street, Quintard Avenue, Pine Hill Avenue, Burchard Lane, Michael Street and Raymond Terrace) will, as per the DPW, receive speed bumps in October. Myrtle Street will get speed bumps next year at the time of the scheduled street paving.
For those of you unfamiliar with which city agencies are involved in traffic issues, the Police Commission that is appointed by the mayor is also the Traffic Authority. The DPW staff offer recommendations to the Common Council and the Traffic Authority to help them make decisions concerning traffic. The three members of the Traffic Authority are the mayor, Fran Collier-Clemmons (838-6232) and Nicholas Cioffi (762-3124). Before the streets that are about to receive speed bumps could receive them the Traffic Authority voted it's approval.
6/25/02
Speeding motor vehicles are bullets – two-ton bullets flying through the neighborhoods of Norwalk. While advocating for calm traffic I have spoken with distressed residents from a hundred of the most dangerously impacted streets. I have also read and written recent letters to the editor on the subject. The following points are worth considering.
All residents have a right to receive adequate protection and to live in a safe environment.
Speed bumps work immediately in slowing vehicles. A destabilized neighborhood can then start to heal. Leaving a street potholed in order to slow vehicles, unfortunately, can’t be used as an alternative to speed bumps because of the liability risk to the city.
Debating with the police about enforcement is pointless. Every officer from the desk to the chief will offer statistical evidence indicating that even though speeding has increased so has enforcement and number of tickets issued. Each time that I listen to the protective layer of data that an officer recites I see Lucille Ball in the chocolate factory unable to wrap the chocolates fast enough to keep up with what’s coming down the conveyer belt.
For residents socially responsible enough to read letters to the editor education and ongoing public awareness campaigns will be effective in alerting us so that we abide by the speed limit and avoid cutting-through residential streets.
For habitual speeders that don’t read letters to the editor, that simply pay fines when ticketed by the police and who then go on to speed again the Point System is needed. Risk of losing one’s license and escalating insurance rates are the negative consequences that will stop the repeat speeder. My research indicates that the point system deterred speeders when it was in place in Connecticut a dozen years ago. Since the change in law would need to be made in Hartford I have contacted my state legislators. If you also contact them the point (pardon the pun) will be driven home. The majority of people in Norwalk have no tolerance for people that speed.
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6/13/02
This is too good to resist. Its got everything. My old hometown. Environmentally friendly vehicles -- electric. We can get the taxing districts and city all humming along on the same road working together on this. Click here to go to the site: City of Vancouver unveils electric vehicles. When you get there click on 'Think City' and 'Ranger EV' to look at photos. There's even a bicycle street sign in one of the pictures. Anybody want to start a similar program in Norwalk?
____________________________________
Posted 6/6/02
From the 2-day Traffic Summit that the City held on May 29 and 30 some interesting information has already surfaced.
Habitual speeders could be stopped by changing the system. Currently police officers issue fines but no points. With a points system in place speeders with repeated violations could have their license suspended and be subject to other penalties.
The State can be petitioned to allow narrower lanes so as to construct bicycle lanes on Norwalk streets.
Mass transportation initiatives and incentives for alternatives to solo driving of motor vehicles are needed. The highways are filled beyond capacity. The 2002 Census indicates growing reliance on vehicles. This trend, by necessity, will move toward alternatives. If we start planning and taking action now the results will be better than if left to chance.
Zoning and Land Use decisions made locally influence means-of-travel trends. For instance, an ordinance change last year in Norwalk changed a 1.5 parking space requirement to a 2 space requirement, thereby encouraging travel by car rather than by other means.
We (advocates, the business community, developers, commissioners, agencies and departments) have more goals on common ground than we realized. We can build on our love of Norwalk.
The Master Plan of Development for Norwalk needs to be adhered to more than it needs to be changed.
Some proposed changes that would decrease congestion are out of the hands of individual citizens -- but individuals coming together can be the spark that ignites the flame.
There will be further illuminations and initiatives as the City sifts through the data gathered at the Traffic Summit. Stay tuned.
_______________________________
Posted 5/31/02
Nine of the ten streets that were given the green light for speed bumps have received the 66% approval from the residents that the Public Works Department (DPW) requested in order to proceed with installing the bumps. Congratulations to Jacob Street, Merrill Road, James Street, Quintard Avenue, Pine Hill Avenue, Burchard Lane, Michael Street, Raymond Terrace and Myrtle Street. The tenth street -- Gregory Boulevard (south of Fifth Street) -- may get bumps on a portion of the street if the residents in favor are a 66% majority on that portion. Dick Linnartz of the DPW (854-7878) can provide the specifics.
Other streets on the list are awaiting funding. Mayor Knopp has indicated that the amount of funding for traffic calming projects could be increased starting next year if the residents of Norwalk want more funding to go into traffic calming. If you want more funding make the calls, send the email and the letters to your council persons and the mayor. Let them know.
If you want traffic calming for your street but don't know if your street is on the list call Dick Linnartz and ask. If your street is not on the list he will put it on the list if you request him to do so.
_________________________________
Posted 5/17/02
Some of the following ideas aren't new when it comes to solving our traffic problems -- but, what is new is the opportunity we have each day to do things differently than we have done them in the past. If we want to live in a city that is livable we’ll make the changes.
> use public transportation, bicycle or walk
> telecommute or rideshare
> drive the speed limit and avoid cutting-through residential side-streets
> organize the neighbors on your street to create Speed Control programs with the help of the Police Department -- and Traffic Calming projects with the help of the Public Works Department.
> let legislators know that funding for convenient alternative transportation -- including roadways that are safe for pedestrians and bicyclists -- is a priority
> support legislation that plans and zones for Smart Growth so as to avoid the creation of traffic nightmares
> support adequate affordable housing to cut-down on drive-time between work and home
> lobby the mayor and council to create a transportation-focused position at City Hall so as to help eliminate traffic problems before they happen
> visit the Advocates for Calm Traffic website (CalmTraffic.org) for daily updates on actions others are taking to calm traffic and to learn how you can make a difference by getting involved
__________________________
Posted 5/13/02
East Avenue (from the Interstate to Rte 1) and Rowayton Avenue (south of Pinkney
Park) are
being considered by the City of Norwalk for Village District designation. If
redesignated the review process for changes on existing buildings and land will be
more restrictive, hence protecting and enhancing the history and charm of the
areas.
Contact ACT, visit the Planning and Zoning Department at City Hall or click
on the following sites -- if you
need more information.
Enabling Legislation For Traditional Neighborhood Development Regulations
_________________
Wishing you all calm traffic....
Laurel Lindstrom
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