500 neighbors protest Groton street closure
Petition seeks to keep Vergennes Court open
Groton — More than 500 people have signed a petition opposing the closure of Vergennes Court, a small street off Fort Hill Road that leads to the Fort Hill neighborhood.
The town is considering the closure to improve traffic flow and safety in the area, particularly on Route 1. In December 2011, 51-year-old Anthony McClellan was killed as he walked in the crosswalk at the intersection of Fort Hill Road and Vergennes Court.
But neighbors said closing the small street won't help, because that's not the problem.
“Route 1 itself is just very dangerous. It's not lit. At night, you can't even see the crosswalks,” said Bob Mills, who lives on nearby Joliet
Court. “And not only that, my mother almost got hit (last summer) when she was going across to get her medication. Two cars stopped, but another car went right around and they almost clipped her. There needs to be flashing lights there to slow (drivers) down.”
Vergennes Court is across from a small strip mall on Route 1 that includes an eatery, a package store and a pharmacy. Route 1 briefly widens near the mall to two lanes of traffic heading west on Route 1, to allow cars to more easily turn right onto Route 117.
“That double lane starts too far back," said Alan Ackley, who owns Ackley's Package Store in the mall. "So when (a car) does stop for the crosswalk, someone goes around to the right. They really need to redesign the way it's set up.”
Neighbors said closing the road won't stop people from crossing at the intersection but will only cut off an access to their neighborhood. The other two points of access to the Fort Hill neighborhood — Depot Road and Central Avenue — have traffic lights.
The plan is to close Vergennes Court at the intersection with Route 1 and turn the court into a cul-de-sac. The change would maintain a space for pedestrians to cross and for emergency vehicles to get into the neighborhood. The project would cost $240,000 based on preliminary estimates, with Groton paying 10 percent and the Federal Highway Administration providing the other 90 percent.
Poquonnock Bridge Fire Chief Joseph Winski said the town made every effort to maintain emergency access. But in his experience, such access points don't last, he said.
“It's got to be kept plowed in the winter and you've got make sure people don't park in the right of way, and in my experience, when you provide these type of accesses, they're never maintained,” Winski said.
“If we close that road and it's not accessible and we can't guarantee it will be accessible, we have to go down to Central Avenue, and to get to that same location from Central Avenue is a half a mile further,” he said. Reaching the same point from Depot Road would be one mile farther, he said.
“Time is everything when it comes to fire and medical emergencies,” Winski said.
Mills said speed is the issue, not the road. Even with Claude Chester Elementary School nearby, drivers go too fast, he said. The school department plans to close the elementary school in the future, and that concerns him.
“That's a school zone and they're still not slowing down,” Mills said. “When they close the school, I can imagine how dangerous that road is going to be.”