Up in back country, in the neighborhood off Stanwich Rd that includes Londonderry Drive, Burning Tree Rd, Barnsatable Ln and Winterset Rd, neighbors say speeding cars have always been an issue, but the situation had worsened since the pandemic hit.
At Thursday’s Selectmen meeting, a request to create a 25MPH speed limit came was presented by Eleanor Rogers from Greenwich DPW. She said none of the four streets have an established speed limit, though Stanwich Rd does. Also, adjacent, Perkins Rd has a 25MPH speed limit posted, but other residential streets in the neighborhood are private roads.
Ms Rogers from DPW said the initial request was initiated by neighbors.
The process is for the Selectmen to approve the proposal and for DPW to send the request to the State.
Rob Pizzella said the neighborhood, like the entire town, is seeing a large jump in deliveries.
“We’re getting them – whether it’s Uber Eats, DoorDash, Amazon – and they’re obviously under strain to move fast,” he said, adding that the neighborhood is a cut through, and the hilly topography lends itself to people speeding up and down the hills.
Clarena McBeth of Barnstable Ln said, “It’s sort of a hill so people like to pretend they’re racing down the hill. And we have many children in the entire community.”
Ms McBeth said speeding was indeed a problem and even a 25MPH speed limit might be too fast.
Ms Rogers from DPW explained that, per the State, 25MPH was the minimum the town could establish, even for a local road.
Steph Cowie of Londonderry Drive said speeding is increasing, and might partly be the result of the bridge project on South Stanwich.
“They basically come down Barnstable or Londonderry and go through Burning Tree Country Club, and cut over to Interlaken to get over to North Street,” she said.
“The summer was terrible. The driving is frightful,” Cowie added. “And during the pandemic, there were so many kids walking, riding bikes – this is a neighborhood.”
“The concern is that kids are going to get hurt. Adults are going to get hurt,” she said.
Residents walk in the street as there are no sidewalks.
“The neighborhood, as residents, we are very mindful, but those (who) don’t live in this area – it’s concerning, especially front the intersections. People don’t even mind stop signs.”
The selectmen voted 3-0 in favor of a motion to request to establish a 25MPH speed limit for the four streets, which are in a residential neighborhood.
