Westport selectmen push for school zone
WESTPORT — Concerns about students’ safety might soon be addressed if the state approves the selectmen’s request to create a school zone near Kings Highway Elementary School.
The move comes as a response to members of the Kings Highway community speaking out about traffic in the area and the lack of proper signage. The zone would have to be approved by the state Department of Transportation and would go on U.S. Route 1, adjacent to the school.
Public Works Director Pete Ratkiewich said there have been school zone signs in front of Kings Highway in the past, but at some point the state took all the signs down during a pavement project.
“This was alarming to the Kings Highway School community in that there were no school zone signs or crossing signs,” Ratkiewich said at a Board of Selectmen meeting Wednesday. “After much back and forth between my office and the Department of Traffic Engineering we sort of got clarification as to what we needed to do.”
Westport Police Cpl. Alan D’Amura said a lot of citizens have reached out to him, the first selectman and public works about implementing a school zone in one of the busiest areas in town. He said there is a lot of traffic with the highway nearby.
“This is something that is extremely important that we need to get done at the local level and then the state will support us on this,” he said, adding the school zone will help with enforcement and deter people from speeding.
BOS members questioned if there was something that could be done in the interim as the town waits for a response from the state, but D’Amura said the town could not place temporary signage on it because it’s a state road.
If approved, the school zone will run from Lincoln Street to Kings Highway North. The BOS also requested approval of two additional signs that will warn drivers of the approaching school zone and appropriate speeding limit.
Kim Ceman, past president of Kings Highway Parent Teacher Association, said the school community was thankful for the change.
“With our new pandemic realities kids have been encouraged to walk to school,” she said. “As a result we have seen a significantly larger number of children crossing and walking on Post Road to and from school.”