Submitted by Anthony Moor, Candidate for First Selectman, Chair RTM Transportation Committee
As Rachel Khanna and I have been meeting residents while campaigning recently, we have found that what frustrates many these days is traffic. Whether it’s speeding in backcountry, the daily parking hunt on Greenwich Avenue, or the challenge of safely crossing busy roads, the message is clear: getting around town has become more difficult and more dangerous than it should be. No one’s in charge
The irony is, Greenwich hasn’t grown much in decades, though there’s been an uptick in population recently. So why does it feel like our roads are more clogged, our parking more scarce, and our roads less safe?
The short answer: no one’s in charge. And that’s no way to run a town.
Fifteen years ago, Greenwich eliminated the position of Superintendent of Traffic Engineering. Since then, the job of managing traffic flow, pedestrian safety, and street design has been scattered among highway crews, engineers, police, and outside consultants—none of whom have the authority or mandate to take a bird’s-eye view.
Traffic has become everyone’s job and therefore no one’s responsibility.
Even the First Selectman, who oversees both the Department of Public Works and the Police Department and chairs the town’s Traffic Authority has put forward no plan to improve how we move around town. His most recent operating budget doesn’t even mention improving traffic or transportation as a goal.
Towns around us have top-level traffic engineers to take on these challenges.
They’ve recognized that transportation isn’t just about repaving roads or painting crosswalks. It’s about design, thinking beyond the next intersection and looking at the network as a whole. By contrast, a poorly designed DPW test project on West Putnam at the state line aimed to address a pedestrian concern but was shelved when residents pointed out it would just snarl auto traffic.
Let’s make traffic flow and safety a mission
Greenwich can—and must—do the same. It’s time to restore traffic expertise to our town government, someone tasked specifically with improving safety, flow, access, and infrastructure planning as a mission.
That leadership must be backed by a clear, modern policy framework. While other communities in Connecticut and across the region have adopted policies to ensure their roads serve all users—drivers, pedestrians, cyclists, and public transit riders—Greenwich continues to design roads project by project, such as the controversial bump outs on The Ave.
The current administration points to Safe Streets Greenwich, a recent initiative funded largely with federal dollars, as proof of action. It’s a good first step, and a program that I and the RTM Transportation Committee supported. But this plan for a plan is narrowly focused on identifying dangerous hotspots, and doesn’t provide a roadmap for reducing congestion or solve the town’s broader transportation woes.
Transportation was a priority for Rachel when she was a state representative. She will help to secure the state and federal funding for local improvements that will be essential to this work.
Let’s stop putting traffic on autopilot. In a place as extraordinary as Greenwich, getting around shouldn’t be the hardest part of the day. You can make that happen with your vote for me and our united team when the polls open Oct. 20.
Note: the deadline to submit letters about candidates for the Nov 4, 2025 election is noon on Oct 28.