Submitted by The Greenwich PTA Council Board of Directors; John Fisher, President
Our Kids Need Safe Routes To and From School The Greenwich PTA Council (PTAC) is the umbrella organization made up by and for the 15 independent PTAs in town which have just under 4,000 member families. The PTAs and their members spend well over $1¼ million dollars and put in thousands of volunteer hours every year in partnership with the schools to ensure that every child can enjoy a fulfilling and vibrant educational experience.
For our kids to have that fulfilling and vibrant educational experience, they need to be able to get to and from school safely.
So the PTAC Board of Directors and the Boards of Directors of all of the 15 public school PTAs in town were very concerned when we saw the preliminary plan put forward by the Greenwich Department of Public Works in a presentation over the summer for “improving congestion & minimizing delay” on US Route 1 / Putnam Avenue / the Post Road. That plan features new technology, but would eliminate the pedestrian-only crossing phase in the traffic lights cycle, as it currently exists.
The pedestrian-only phase stops cars in all directions while pedestrians cross the street.
Eliminating the pedestrian-only phase would put our children – and our seniors, and people with disabilities, and everyone else – in the crosswalks while cars have the greenlight to turn right and turn left.
Let’s be clear about the risks: kids are small and precious and don’t always stop, look and listen; cars are big and heavy and don’t always see or yield to pedestrians in the crosswalk. Even the DPW’s project consultant stated that eliminating the pedestrian-only crossing is “less safe.”
The town of Mamaroneck had “a leading pedestrian interval” which gave pedestrians a 5 to 7 second lead to cross before cars got a greenlight, and had a tragic accident resulting in the death of a mother and child while crossing the street on their way to school. Greenwich has had its own pedestrian tragedies. The town of Mamaroneck learned their lesson and implemented pedestrian-only crossing phases. We need to learn that lesson also.
Retaining the pedestrian-only phase is critical at the numerous intersections along the Cos Cob Corridor and at the intersections near Eastern & Western Middle Schools and Greenwich High School, given the large number of walking students, the unusual intersection geometries, and the high concentration of schools, parks, athletic fields, and community spaces along these portions of US 1 / Putnam Avenue.
As we understand from the DPW’s presentation of the proposed adaptive signal control technology, putting that new technology in place will, on its own, help to significantly reduce congestion and improve traffic flow. The few additional seconds saved for cars by eliminating the pedestrian-only crossing is not worth the risks to our precious children, and everyone else.
The Greenwich PTA Council Board of Directors and the PTA Boards of Directors at all of the 15 public schools in Greenwich urge the DPW to retain the pedestrian-only crossing phases as they continue to seek other solutions to improve the flow of traffic.
The Greenwich PTA Council Board of Directors; John Fisher, President