We Need East Ave Safety

Without a Pedestrian and Vehicular Plan, the East Avenue Corridor will increasingly resemble Rt 1 or Rt 7 — facilitating high volumes and speed of cut-thru traffic to and from I-95
…at the expense of our local citizens.

Excessive speeding and general traffic chaos on East Ave puts all pedestrians at great risk.

My daily life, necessitating the use of East Ave, is extremely challenging. Our otherwise quaint, vibrant neighborhood has continuously been destroyed by the excessive volume of speeding vehicles, unruly traffic, and noise.

It’s often too dangerous to safely access and enjoy all the wonderful neighborhood assets. The dangers of East Ave prevent us from walking and biking along the Norwalk River Valley Trail, the Harbor Loop Path, Mill Hill Historic Park, and the Town Green.

I have serious concerns about my property value and quality of life in the long run. East Ave is unavoidable to us as residents, and yet increasingly, roadwork and changes are made to prioritize highway cut-thru traffic over safety.

We urge our elected officials and representatives to prioritize local citizens, who live, work, and enjoy recreation here, over cut-thru speed from I95.

The outdated road design of East Avenue facilitates excessive speeding, and the recently completed work on East Avenue only worsened the unruly traffic.

My business liability risk is increased by unsafe parking lot accessibility. Patrons incur a significant risk for accidents, both with vehicles and pedestrians, while navigating the chaos.

In recent months, my property has seen a decline in prospective local professionals looking for a place to conduct business. My tenants and their clients have voiced concerns to this effect, and I’ve seen a worrisome, more widespread perception of the area being viewed as undesirable.

A basic assumption was that efforts would be directed toward safely connecting all the People on East Ave, to all the Commerce on Wall Street. Now all are wondering how and why, traffic calming measures aren’t the primary objective.

It’s essentially impossible to cross East Ave safely. Even in a vehicle, it’s become increasingly difficult to turn onto side streets or driveways.

Pedestrian safety measures are few and far between. The East Ave corridor has the feel of a highway; an instinctive no-walking zone, visibly lacking any traffic calming infrastructure.

East Ave is lined with homes, businesses, churches, and schools. It serves as a central venue for regular events held by those establishments.

The overall consensus in our community is one of confusion – unsure of the City of Norwalk’s intent regarding East Ave. We’ve witnessed an apparent transition unfold, enhancing an expressway-like design, providing a quick route to I95. Yet those who spend a great deal of time, living, working, and recreating on East Ave, are themselves, proof of a stark contradictory need. The living reality depicts a drastic and rapid call for intervention and change directed toward safety.

We urge our elected officials to act now, on behalf of safety for local citizens. We deserve priority over speed.

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east ave pedestrian hit
96 East Ave crash

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