Neighborhood wants faster action on Ridgefield Avenue traffic slowing

By NEAL RENTZ

The Lewisboro Town Board is continuing its examination of speed reducing measures on town roads, but Ridgefield Avenue residents told the board May 11 that they have been expressing concerns about the dangerous traffic for years and action needs to be taken now.

The board is considering the Bedford Highway Department’s guidelines for installation of speed humps as a potential way to slow down traffic on town roads. Neighboring Bedford has speed humps and the public can request their installation by asking the highway department. 

Councilman Richard Sklarin said at Monday’s meeting that Police Chief David Alfano and Highway Superintendent John Winter oppose speed humps and have said they would not be effective. 

“We’ve been talking about this for a while,” Supervisor Tony Gonçalves said, noting that people from areas other than Ridgefield Avenue have also sought the humps because of motorists cutting through neighborhoods. The costs of the traffic calming measures have not been determined, he said.

Councilwoman Mary Shah supported the idea.

“I have personally driven over these humps in Bedford more than a couple of times on a regular basis, so I know they work,” she said. 

The Town Board should use guidelines that are in place in Bedford, Shah said.

“It’s not that we’re ignoring the expert opinions of the police chief or the highway superintendent,” she said. “We’re just creating a framework for the town of Lewisboro so we can proceed in an orderly fashion and get the job done.”

Additional police presence should be on the town roads experiencing the speeding problem, Councilman Dan Welsh said.

“Let’s get some more police hours and put them out there and start issuing tickets,” he said. 

Some Ridgefield Avenue residents told the Town Board at this week’s meeting that residents living on the street have expressed their concerns about dangerous speeding for years and now is the time for the town to address the issue. 

One of them, Bob Gorman, said he understood that the Town Board wanted to create guidelines for installing speed humps for future applications. 

“But I don’t think it should be applied retroactively,” he said. “The formal petition we have from the residents of Ridgefield Avenue has been in place for a year.”

The study from the consultant hired by the town found that Ridgefield Avenue is a dangerous road for pedestrians and motorists, Gorman said. It listed measures that could be taken.

Another Ridgefield Avenue resident, Gail Hillary, said Winter does not live on her road. 

“The study said eight to 10 speed humps were necessary, not suggested,” she said. “They were necessary for the safety of the residents, anyone who drives there, anybody who walks there, anybody who’s on that road.”

There has been no action even though residents have been expressing concerns for the past five years, Hillary said. 

“Someone’s going to get killed,” she said. “We’re nothing like Bedford.”

The speeding is far more dangerous on Ridgefield Avenue than in Bedford, she said. 

“You can’t see anything on our road,” Hillary said. “You go over the hill and someone going 60 miles per hour will never be able to get out of someone’s way.” 

“Every day one of us almost gets killed,” Hillary said. “This is insanity.” The board came to a consensus this week to hold a work session on speed humps and other potential vehicular speed reduction measures at a date to be announced. 

New town court 

Also at this week’s meeting, the board voted unanimously to approve a $7,500 contract with KG+D Architects to design a one-story addition for a lobby and canopy for 892 Route 35. The Town Board purchased the office building last year for a new town court area.

Gonçalves said the New York state Office of Court Administration reviewed the initial plans for the courthouse on the first floor of the Route 35 building and told him its major concern was lack of space in the lobby area. In response, the town is now proposing the addition to provide adequate space in the entrance area and move the transaction window to the proposed addition, he said.