Invest in Greenwich

By Joanna Swomley, District 10

Why is there no traffic plan in Greenwich? Why are the traffic lights not synced? Why does it take so long to go from one end of town to the other, much less even short distances in Greenwich? And, on the other hand, why is speeding such a problem in other areas?

We’ve had three people die in the last year after being struck by cars. Why do we not have a traffic planner and make use of technologies other towns take for granted?

The answer appears to be twofold: 1) we have a complacent leadership at the helm, and 2) budgetary pressures from an entrenched political party that fails to understand that some expenditures actually pay for themselves and/or so improve the quality of life that they are worth it. Like paying for traffic flow and safety.

Years ago Greenwich had a traffic engineer. That position, like many others, was nixed to save money. A penny-wise, a pound foolish. Before COVID-19 we had what most viewed as a booming economy. Yet we pinched pennies as if we were in a great depression and we have no traffic engineer, no synchronized lights, and no one doing any long-range planning.

Why do they think we are fine stopping at every light down the Post Road rather than employing synchronizing technology that would avoid this complete waste of time? Because we – town residents – are not demanding any more of them. This is what complacency looks like. If we continue to elect the same old same old, it is hard to expect anything different.

LACK OF URBAN PLANNING

Nearly every area in Greenwich suffers from a lack of planning and/or a refusal to fix due to cost-cutting measures which are in place in both good and bad economic times – meaning, all the time.

With over 60,000, by population Greenwich is a city. The “Town” nomenclature has been retained because it was grandfathered into use. But at 60,000 residents, the “Town” would benefit from serious urban planning. It has none. Rather, Greenwich addresses issues as they come up and as a result we have a hodgepodge of buildings, zoning practices, and contracts that don’t benefit everyone equally.

We need professional urban planning. We need someone to look at the “Town” overall and plan for the next generation – rather than reacting as things arise on a piecemeal basis.