Public safety is my top priority as first selectperson
I am often asked what my top priority is if elected First Selectperson, and my answer is unequivocally public safety. My voting record proves my support for our first responders. I will also fight for improving conditions for pedestrians and bicyclists.
To the best of my knowledge, we have had four pedestrian fatalities in Greenwich since 2020 and, in my opinion, not enough is being done to protect human life. A resident recently shared their experience of being hit in a crosswalk, resulting in serious injury, and there are probably many more of those stories or near misses.
It’s time to act.
For the FY21-22 budget, the Conservation Commission proposed a modest study to examine the feasibility of connecting the east and wide side of town with a bike lane. That proposal was left out of the First Selectman’s budget. BET Democrats made a motion to add back the funding, but the Republicans voted against it and the motion failed.
When the First Selectman removed the police officers from the Greenwich Ave./Arch St./Havemeyer intersection he had no plan to address traffic flow and pedestrian safety. I expressed my concerns when it was being discussed. The proposed bump out for that same intersection was rejected by the RTM, so the town forfeited the grant money for the project. That was almost a year ago and there’s been no action plan proposed by the incumbent.
We need leadership to improve pedestrian safety
Neighborhood associations in Byram and Pemberwick/Glenville have successfully advocated for pedestrian improvements which are complete or underway.
Likewise, residents on Shore Road in Old Greenwich banded together, created a web site, collected data and visual evidence and came out in force at the BET public hearing in March 2022 to lobby for a stretch of sidewalk from Tomac Avenue to Sound Beach Avenue. That sidewalk is nearly finished, but it shouldn’t take Herculean efforts by citizen advocates to make our neighborhoods safe.
Speed cameras can reduce traffic fatalities
The state legislature passed a law this July to enable towns and municipalities to get to “Vision Zero”– meaning no fatalities on our streets. This legislation provides a pathway for speed cameras for enforcement.
The most recent traffic study done for the Central Middle School Building Committee presents data on excessive speeds on both Stanwich and Orchard streets which merit consideration for an automated speed camera program. Let’s pilot and evaluate such a program.
As First Selectperson, I will actively engage community stakeholders, our first responders and neighborhood advocates to use all the tools at our disposal to provide safe passage, to enforce speed limits and to protect the lives of our townspeople. I will make this my top priority not just in words, but in action.
Senator Murphy: “Laura is exactly the right kind of person to lead Greenwich”
“Being nice is simply not enough when managing a Town of 64k constituents. It is definitely not enough in the current environment when our quality of life in Town is threatened by a small faction of loud and organized right-wing hard-liners who are intent on breaking our public institutions. We need leadership that pushes back, doesn’t waiver, asks tough questions, does due diligence, is organized and focused on a long-term plan. Greenwich needs Laura Erickson.” Miriam Kreuzer, member, Board of Estimate and Taxation
Laura Erickson
Candidate for First Selectperson
| Volume L1, Number 2 • October 25, 2023 |
| Paid for by the Greenwich Democratic Town Committee. |
| Greenwich Democratic Town Committee P.O. Box 126 Greenwich, CT 06836 |