Given the recent approvals and pending applications for large backcountry developments before the Planning & Zoning Commission, The Round Hill Association is very concerned about the increased number of cars and traffic that will result from hundreds of new apartment units planned in Northwest Greenwich. These applications will put an excessive stress on our community roads that will make an existing unsafe condition increasingly intolerable.
Many of our roads are windy, narrow, and more difficult to navigate, given the makeup of our community. Our local roadways are formally defined as “improved local roadways”; however, they are often being utilized as “arterial highways” by aggressive drivers many of which, it is safe to say, do not live in our community. As a result, we have regularly observed a high volume of cut-thru traffic, speeding and crashes. Our roads were simply not built for this sort of traffic.
Additionally, the increased usage of traffic apps like Waze & Google Maps will further exacerbate conditions as non-residents will continue to use our roads as cut throughs and speed around tight corners and low visibility hills. As a result, there has been an increase in crash rates per vehicle mile driven both in CT and across the nation. Higher travel speeds and distracted driving are cited as the leading causes*.
Consistent with the goals of the Town, The RHA will continue to prioritize safe streets for all stakeholders including pedestrians, bikers and residents who sometimes feel endangered leaving their driveway or getting their mail. Many of us moved here for the quiet backcountry, sometimes agrarian lifestyle where we have a little more land and some peace and quiet from the more populated parts of town.
Last fall, the Round Hill Association hired Sam Schwartz Engineers, a national traffic engineering and transportation planning firm with experience in safe streets, traffic calming and traffic studies. Through their engagement, we have completed traffic studies and studied crash data and traffic reports from GPD to document some of the pain points in our area. For example, on a single backcountry street in 2023, there were seven traffic accidents reported including one with a serious injury. These rates are well in excess of the statewide average for comparable roadways. We also believe that nearly a dozen go unreported. On that same 25 MPH road, 60 cars were sampled for speeding. The average speed was 39 MPH with the highest speeding vehicle traveling at 47 MPH.
We find this to be unacceptable for our community and have begun working with the Town to address this serious safety issue. Through our work with Sam Schwartz, we have identified actionable items we believe will slow down drivers and decrease traffic and protect our neighborhoods. We would like to be on the forefront of change that can happen across multiple neighborhoods in Greenwich because we know this issue is town wide. We have engaged other neighborhood associations and will begin to gather their feedback. We have also joined the Town’s Active Transportation Task Force.
If you are a backcountry resident and have a particular pain point where there is excessive traffic, speeding or just a dangerous intersection, please email us at info@roundhillassn.org. Did you know that studies show that small changes to a roadway, like removing double yellow lines, can decrease speeds, while at the same time change our backcountry streetscape? The result would be a return to our country roads that focus more on stone walls and open spaces. Small ideas like this, along with potential street changes can make a difference. We want to hear from you.
* https://ctmirror.org/2023/10/20/ct-car-crash-deaths-wrong-way-driving/
The video below is a real crash caught on a neighbor’s camera where a car, following Waze, took a corner well over the posted speed limit.
