In support of Arch Street’s makeover

One of the things that has always made downtown Greenwich such a special place has been its ability to balance a sense of cosmopolitan sophistication with small town charm. Making our streets and intersections safer and more user friendly goes hand in hand with this. That is why our community of downtown residents are writing in support of the Arch Street intersection enhancement.

Arch Street and Greenwich Avenue is at the crossroads (literally) of so many important downtown landmarks. The Senior Center, the Restoration Hardware Plaza, the Town Security Complex and of course, Starbucks. Despite all of the activity surrounding it, this intersection remains a poorly designed collection of obtuse angles and ill-defined crosswalks. What also makes Arch Street/Greenwich Avenue so difficult for pedestrians is its use as a route for rush hour commuters on their way home. Although there are fewer commuters these days, it is no less dangerous. We feel the elevated intersection will go a long way toward offsetting this longstanding problem.

Better, more clearly defined crosswalks will also make for safer travels for residents. Shortening the distance from sidewalk to sidewalk, and elevating the crosswalks so that they are level with the sidewalks make for a seamless point of entry for pedestrians. For older residents and those with disabilities, small changes like these can be important ones. We are thankful that our local officials have put pedestrian safety at the forefront of these designs. We also welcome the addition of elegant landscaping to Greenwich Avenue. Greenwich Avenue is a town treasure and deserves some sprucing up every now and then. This element makes our downtown a more beautiful place to be, and adds to its cachet.

As downtown residents, we are all very sensitive to the lack of parking that is a perpetual challenge. We are heartened that First Selectman Fred Camillo and the Department of Public Works (DPW) have committed adding between 10 to 12 public parking spaces within the context of their redesign of this intersection. Also noteworthy is the expansion of parking for people with disabilities. In a statement, Deputy Commissioner of Public Works Jim Michel said the “DPW will be relocating and in some cases actually ADDING additional accessible parking stalls as part of this project. We are not eliminating accessible spaces. In addition, we make the accessible stalls fully code compliant with the American’s with Disability Act (ADA).” This is extremely reassuring to our community.

Lastly, the cost of this project will be fully reimbursed to Greenwich by virtue of grants from the Western Connecticut Council of Governments and the Connecticut Department of Transportation. While these grants are taxpayer funded at the state level, Greenwich is rarely a recipient of state grants like these, so we should receive this important state reimbursement with open arms to defray the cost of this important initiative. If we were not to proceed with this project, these grants would be lost.

We thank our first selectman, selectwomen and DPW staff for the energy, dedication and hard work it took to see this through. We hope others will support the Arch Street enhancements and look forward to its completion.