Residents Urge Officials To Fund New Shore Road Sidewalk Project

GREENWICH, CT — On July 13, 2014, on a beautiful summer day, Old Greenwich resident Kevin Molloy went out for a run on Shore Road to prepare for an upcoming marathon.

As he approached a dangerous blind turn in the road with high hedges on the left-hand side before Tod's Point, Molloy crossed Shore Road to run with traffic behind him, a move he said he's seen many times from fellow runners looking for a safer route.

But due to the narrow roadway near North Crossway, Molloy was suddenly hit from behind by a car and thrown into the air. Molloy landed on his side and hit his head on the ground, which caused a laceration and blood to pool on the pavement.

"I had a severe concussion. That was the worst of it, but I was quite fortunate. I easily could have died that day," said Molloy on Tuesday night, recounting his story during a public hearing before the Board of Estimate and Taxation Budget Committee.

"This is an incredibly dangerous stretch of road, and we need to do something about it," Molloy added. "This needs to be fixed."

Molloy's pleas were echoed by other residents during the public hearing, which followed a presentation on the proposed $505.1 million town budget by First Selectman Fred Camillo.

Camillo's budget includes about $35 million for capital projects, with many of the dollars focused on public safety, especially on town roads.

Throughout his budget presentation, Camillo stressed a theme of improving infrastructure and addressing pedestrian and public safety, top priorities for residents in the 2023 resident satisfaction survey.

Notably, there is $250,000 set aside in the proposed spending plan for feasibility and design work of a new sidewalk on Shore Road between Sound Beach Avenue and Tod's Point.

For fiscal year 2026, $1.5 million would be used for the construction of the new sidewalk.

The proposal comes on the heels of a successful sidewalk project further up Shore Road from Tomac Avenue to Sound Beach Avenue, which was completed last year after resident complaints about safety. A website was even established, Sidewalks On Shore, that highlights safety issues on the roadway.

"We really want people out there exercising, we want them walking around, but we want them doing it safely," Camillo said.

Morgan Evans, also an Old Greenwich resident, urged the BET Budget Committee to fund the latest sidewalk project.

"Shore Road is used by hundreds of pedestrians daily, but they have to doge landscaping trucks, construction vehicles and speeding residents," he said.

Tod's Point is less than a mile from Evans' home, yet his family still drives to the park because of the difficulty navigating the roadway on foot or bicycle.

"We live on Shore Road, but we knocked out a section of our boundary wall and put a gate in so we could access the sidewalks on Sound Beach so we could get into town safely," Evans said. "Our family and our neighbors support sidewalks on Shore, from Sound Beach to Tod's Point."

Another Shore Road resident, Kristen Beecher, noted how many cars, pedestrians and bicyclists travel that stretch of roadway since it's the only way into Tod's Point, one of the town's most frequented amenities.

Beecher said she walks her children to and from the bus stop on Shore Road every day, and as a driver, she's constantly nervous when trying to veer around pedestrians or deal with sight-line issues due to protruding hedges.

"It proves to be the scariest few minutes of my life as a mother day after day... We must protect our pedestrians. It's only a matter of time before something really horrible happens, and it could be avoided if there are sidewalks," Beecher added.

"You would enhance pedestrian safety, provide a dedicated space for walkers, joggers and children, reduce the risk of accidents while also fostering a more walkable and inclusive community," she said. "Everything about this is a win for this community and a win for everyone who votes to make this happen as soon as possible."

In the coming weeks, the BET Budget Committee will do its departmental reviews as part of its consideration of the budget.

The first review will be on Jan. 30 with the Office of the First Selectman. The budget committee will continue its reviews throughout February, culminating in a "decision day" on Feb. 27.

The Representative Town Meeting will then consider the budget in May. The RTM can only make budget cuts, not additions.

Budget documents for 2024-2025 can be viewed here.