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NORWALK, Conn. Norwalk.DailyVoice.com accepts signed, original letters to the editor. Letters may be e-mailed to letters@dailyvoice.com.
To the Editor,
In a recent letter to the editor by a group called the "Norwalk Beach Road Safety Group" the writers claim that everyone who spoke at the recent Public Works Committee public hearing on Calf Pasture Beach Road safety offered comments for improving safety and nearly all were in favor of reducing the road from four lanes to two.
I was the first speaker and spoke in opposition to any lane reduction (as did several other speakers) and I did not make any comments for improving safety. Their letter includes what may be inadvertent exaggerations and I question their credibility. People that I have spoken to believe that city residents as a whole are opposed to any changes to Beach Road.
Cyclists traveling the streets of Norwalk may very well have a credibility problem also, as motorists can observe their daily careless operation of bicycles. It would appear that most cyclist think they are immune from obeying the rules of the road like everyone else.
Cyclists are constantly running through stop signs and red lights, passing on the right, weaving in and out of traffic and traveling on the wrong side of the road. On most occasions, when there is a car versus bicycle accident, the cyclist was disobeying simple traffic rules and unfortunately, cyclists are uninsured.
Should the Norwalk Police be asked to issue traffic tickets to cyclists when they disobey traffic rules down by the beach? Is it okay for cyclists to race past vehicles on the right while traveling along the beach driveway? Is it okay for them to run the red light at Marvin School and the stop signs on Beach Road?
If the bike-lane advocates in this town put as much energy into educating their fellow cyclists into taking more responsibility for themselves as they do promoting bike lanes, they may gain more credibility. Perhaps it would be good to see a website or Facebook page dedicated to promoting the safe operation of bicycles in Norwalk (without pointing fingers at motorists or city officials).
In the meantime, the notion of reducing Beach Road to two lanes is extreme and is not good for Norwalk. Norwalk is a coastal community, the beach area is a destination and we need to have the ability to move traffic in and out of the area efficiently for Norwalk to continue to be the successful town that it is. Any thoughts or recommendations otherwise is just plain tunnel vision.
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