Letter To Editor: 'On Proposed Easton Sidewalk'

Fellow Easton Residents,

I urge you to vote against “advising” the Town to build a 8 to 10 foot wide, two lane sidewalk on the east side of Sport Hill Road from Helen Keller Middle School to Silverman’s Farm. The Board of Finance has voted not to approve this project. The Selectman have put the project on the upcoming ballot as an “advisory question”.

This project has received a State Grant which would pay about $1,000,000 of estimated initial cost of $1,259,000, with Easton paying about $250,000. The State owns 16 feet in from the edge of Sport Hill Road so there would be no seizure of private property.

Proponents of the sidewalk are concerned that children who leave the grounds of Helen Keller Middle School and walk up Sport Hill Rd. to the Village Store are at risk of being hit by cars. When I was at Helen Keller in the 1970’s, students were not permitted to leave the school grounds. Occasionally we broke the rules and walked the path through the woods to Halzack’s Store in the Town Center.

This path is still there and is still being used. I don’t know if walking to the store is permitted now at Helen Keller, but whether it is or not, I suggest that the School and parents advise the children to use the path through the woods. It was a fun and safe walk.

I called the Easton Police Department to find out if there were a lot of accidents involving cars and pedestrians between Helen Keller and Silverman’s. They referred me to University of Connecticut’s Transportation Safety Research Center.

The Center sent me data showing that from 2015 to 2020 there were 78 crashes on the section of Sport Hill Road between Helen Keller Middle School and Silverman’s. No pedestrians or bicyclists were involved in these crashes. No fatalities were reported in these crashes. 59% of the crashes were rear end collisions and 37 of these 78 car crashes occurred at the intersection of Center Road and Sport Hill Road. Maybe we should put a flashing light there.

I am concerned that Planning and Zoning does not seem to have considered other alternatives to solve this perceived problem.

Andy Kachele, Chairman of the Easton Board of Finance has suggested that instead of building this costly 10-foot-wide 2 lane sidewalk, for less money we could improve the existing trail to the Village Store and make it like the Pequonnack Trail (see photo), which runs from Bridgeport up Monroe through the woods beside old railroad tracks.

Andy has asked Aquarion, our water company, for the right to cross their land to get to the Village Store. If we paved it with asphalt I don’t see why it couldn’t be as wheelchair accessible as the proposed sidewalk.

I think that the children would be a safer if we diverted them away from Sport Hill Road altogether by improving this path and putting a crosswalk with flashing lights across Old Oak Rd. I think that funneling bicyclists, skateboarders, in-line skaters, and pedestrians into two side by side 5-foot-wide sidewalk lanes on Sport Hill Rd. would the increase, not decrease the risk of collisions and accidents.

I also think we are being asked to pay too much for this sidewalk, despite the grant. Andy Kachele, Chairman of the Easton Board of Finance said at the recent “Special Town Hall Meeting” that we are being asked to pay 6 to 8x what it costs to build a regular road (1 million per mile) to build a sidewalk that is 1/3 of a mile long. ($1,259,000 divided by 1/3 of a mile). There has been no engineering plan or feasibility study done, so the truth is that we do not know yet the cost of this project. The town, I assume, would be responsible for cost overruns.

I am concerned that this sidewalk could increase liability exposure for Easton and that the cost to maintain it will be much higher than the estimated $1500 to $3,000 per year. When Sport Hill Road is plowed, wouldn’t they be piling snow onto this new sidewalk making it more expensive to clear the snow?

The safety of our citizens and children must always be our highest priority, but the resources of our town are limited.

Our Emergency Medical Services building is 95 years old. The EMS has told the town it needs $275,000 to repair it and the building should be replaced, which will cost $1,000,000. I think replacing the EMS building would be a better use of taxpayer dollars than building this sidewalk.

I think we should improve the path through the woods and get those kids as far away from Sport Hill as possible. I think the school should enforce an immediate ban on Helen Keller Middle School Children walking up to the Village Store on Sport Hill. Maybe the policeman who is on duty at the school could make periodic sweeps of Sport Hill Rd and bring kids who are walking back to school or direct them to use the path through the woods instead.

For these reasons and others, I urge you to vote no against “advising” the Selectmen and the Board of Finance to allocate $250,000 of town funds to build this sidewalk.

Dana Benson

Pond Rd.

Easton