January 10, 2017
Chief Michael Lombardo
Trumbull Police Department
158 Edison Rd
Trumbull, CT 06611
Dear Chief Lombardo,
Last month I addressed the Police Commission and they encouraged me to
share my comments with you directly. I am a runner and a cyclist but I
can't do either as much as I would like because I regularly feel threatened
by the drivers in our town. Not wanting to die on the streets of Trumbull
keeps me from enjoying my right to use our roads.
During the week I run a 3 mile loop through my neighborhood. On the
weekends I occasionally run (or ride) to the Pequonnock trail, run along
the trail and then run back to my house. Not a run (or ride) goes by that I
do not feel threatened by a driver speeding past me or drifting toward one
side of the road or another, unyielding and seemingly oblivious to my right
to be on the road. I often have to literally jump out of the way to avoid
being killed by my fellow residents. Every morning on my way to work I pass
other vulnerable users: dog walkers, students walking to their bus stop or
(occasionally) to school, runners and walkers out for exercise, and
cyclists heading to work. Add to that list the people who use the trail but
have to drive there and you will see I am not the only pedestrian in our
town.
I am also not alone in feeling unsafe on our streets. Last fall I ran a
(very unscientific) poll on a local social media site, asking who had
walked or cycled to one of our new pedestrian-oriented villages, Madison
Village or Long Hill Green. The response was nearly unanimous: no one had
walked or cycled to either place, and all responses included remarks about
being too dangerous or unsafe (one exception: a woman remarked her husband
walked to Madison Village once. Although, according to her, he was
"crazy"). Not one person would allow their children to go to either
destination. A P&Z commissioner commented in a public meeting that
crossing Madison from the overflow parking lot at Best Edibles was
"impossible." We don't allow our children to walk to school because it is
"too dangerous."
If there was a place in town where residents were afraid to leave their
homes in pursuit of legal activities because they were afraid of another
neighbor's threatening actions, we would reasonably expect the police to
intervene and return safety and order to that neighborhood. Trumbull has
pedestrian-oriented areas where the residents are afraid to be pedestrians.
This is a problem that requires police intervention to ensure the safety of
all legal road users, including and especially, vulnerable users.
If residents don't feel safe walking or biking to reach these economic and
social neighborhood centers, they will either have to drive a car,
exacerbating traffic and congestion, or they won't go at all. Neither of
these results align with the vision for those locations. This is not what
our citizens want, this is not the image the town wants, and this is not
sustainable.
The danger is not just in our imaginations. After years of steady national
decline, 2015 saw a 10% increase in pedestrian fatalities (13% for
cyclists). 2016 estimates are ranging from 12 to 15 percent higher than
2015 because there are more distracted drivers driving more miles,
conflicting with more people exercising their legal rights to be
pedestrians. While we have been fortunate in Trumbull, the clash between
automobile traffic and pedestrians is likely to get worse in 2017 with the
completion of the Pequonnock River Valley Trail (PRVT) through Trumbull and
planned extensions of the trail to the Long Hill Green, the Town Hall area
and through Trumbull Center. As the local traffic authority it is your
responsibility to provide infrastructure that both protects and encourages
pedestrians.
But the reason to act is not just because pedestrians need protecting. I
encourage you to act because vulnerable users are good for our community
and we want to encourage more of them. They represent healthy citizens,
provide the foot traffic our stores need to be successful, make our town
sustainable and in the long run increase the value of our homes and
businesses.
I offered a short list of actionable items at the meeting. Deputy Chief
Kirby suggested I enumerate those (see attached). Thank you for your
attention to this matter. Should you have any questions or need
clarifications please do not hesitate to let me know.
Sincerely,
Shelby LeVino
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