Greenwich Selectmen Approve 25 MPH Speed Limits On 3 Streets

GREENWICH, CT — In an effort to control speeding and increase safety for residents, the Greenwich Board of Selectmen on Thursday unanimously voted to implement speed limits on three streets that previously didn't have any.

The board approved 25 mph speed limits for Woodland Drive, Will Merry Lane and Spring House Road. The state of Connecticut will now have to review and ultimately approve the requests

Sam and Chloe Rosenfeld, both members of the Representative Town Meeting who live on Woodland Drive, brought up the issue on their street to First Selectman Fred Camillo, and the Department of Public Works set out to investigate.

Woodland Drive is .17 miles long and located in downtown Greenwich, and it connects Sound View Drive to Field Point Road.

Camillo said the road has historically been used as a "cut-through" for drivers.

"It came to our attention that there's not a speed limit approved for that road today, so the police department can't conduct any enforcement since technically there's not a speed limit," DPW Engineer Michael Kiselak said, noting the roadway is "fairly low-volume."

A traffic and speed study found Woodland Drive saw about 400 vehicles per day over a three-day average, Kiselak said.

Sam Rosenfeld spoke briefly during Thursday's meeting, and said commercial vehicles are among the most frequent speeding offenders on the road.

Based on the road's operational, geometric and land-use characteristics, a 25 mph speed limit was recommended by DPW.

Selectperson Janet Stone McGuigan asked why 25 and not a lower number?

"The state has effectively told us they don't see anything under 25 as a reasonable speed to ask people to abide by unless there's a really strong reason to, like if you're in a really dense downtown environment where there's a lot going on, or maybe near schools," Kiselak explained.

Rick Lutz, a property owner on Woodland Drive, said the traffic on the roadway has increased over the last few years.

"It's a miracle there hasn't already been a tragedy on Woodland Drive, particularly this time of year with the leaves piled and the street getting narrower," Lutz said. "It's already a narrow street with young families and dogs and heavy pedestrian traffic."

Lutz suggested other safety measures that could be pursued in the future, such as installing speed bumps, no commercial traffic signs, or no thru traffic signs.

Will Merry Lane, which is .58 miles long, and Spring House Road, .35 miles long, connect to each other and are located just south of the Merritt Parkway. They connect Round Hill Road on the west to Old Mill Road near Lake Avenue on the east, and also see around 400 vehicles per day on average, according to a DPW study.

Similar to Woodland Drive, Greenwich DPW received a resident request for speed limit signs to be posted.

Kiselak noted a curvature in the roadway and said a 25 mph speed limit was appropriate.

"In the last four years, we've seen a tremendous increase in the traffic," said resident Gerry Brodsky, who often walks on Will Merry Lane. "The traffic on the Merritt Parkway... is very slow at certain times of the day, and with the use of things like Waze and Google Maps, people view our street as a way to avoid three-quarters of a mile of traffic."

Rather than wait two weeks to vote as is customary for most Board of Selectmen agenda items, the selectmen chose to grant approval Thursday due to public safety issues.

McGuigan said she found it "mind-boggling" that there are still roads in Greenwich without speed limits. She wondered if it was worth taking inventory of the streets and imposing speed limits on them.

Kiselak said the state prefers to see studies first before requests are approved, and then they follow up to visit the actual roads. Traffic data needs to be collected, and Selectwoman Lauren Rabin said there are expenses associated with the process.