A group of Toddy Hill Road area residents told Police Commission members June 6 that a police crackdown on Toddy Hill Road speeders has had a pronounced positive effect on the situation when police are on duty there.

Peter Sepe of 83 Toddy Hill Road told commission members, who serve as the local traffic authority, that neighborhood residents are grateful for the effort that police have expended on controlling speeding.

According to police statistics, from May 2 to May 25, police made 124 traffic stops on Toddy Hill Road in their traffic enforcement project. Also, police installed two electronic speed displays on Toddy Hill Road. Such signs display to motorists the speed at which they are approaching the display, compared to the posted speed limit in that area.

On May 2, a large group of neighbors attended an emotional Police Commission session to stress their public safety concerns stemming from speeding, illegal passing, reckless driving, aggressive driving, and distracted driving on the north-south road that connects Berkshire Road in Sandy Hook to South Main Street in Botsford, where the street is known as Botsford Hill Road. On the morning of May 2, a serious motor vehicle accident had occurred on Toddy Hill Road, illustrating those residents' public safety concerns.

Several residents attending the June 6 session with Mr Sepe agreed that traffic conditions have improved along Toddy Hill Road.

Police Commission Chairman Joel Faxon told commission members that police will continue their traffic enforcement along Toddy Hill Road.

In response to the May 2 traffic complaints from Toddy Hill Road area residents, the police department's traffic unit conducted a traffic study on the 4,000-foot-long straightaway on Toddy Hill Road lying between its intersections with Longview Road and Clearview Drive. Toddy Hill Road has a 30-mph speed limit. Officer Jason Flynn wrote the traffic study.

During the five-year period from May 2, 2012, to May 2, 2017, there were eight motor vehicle accidents on the 4,000-foot straightaway, three of which involved injuries. According to a 2010 state Department of Transportation (DOT) traffic study, Toddy Hill Road carries about 6,650 vehicles daily.

The traffic unit has ordered an additional speed limit sign for Toddy Hill Road, and plans to soon install a speed traffic counter on the roadway to provide current information on traffic volumes, as well as travel speeds. Such information would be used to plan targeted traffic enforcement there.

The Police Commission uses such data in deciding which of various forms of "traffic calming" would be the most effective way to reduce traffic problems in a given area.

Greenbriar Lane

In another traffic matter at the June 6 Police Commission session, a group of Greenbriar Lane residents told commission members that they have public safety concerns about the driving behavior of a group of residents who live at a house there. Greenbriar Lane is a residential side street that links South Main Street to Park Lane.

Audrey Locorotondo told commission members that neighborhood residents face a chronic speeding problem on the street. Other residents said the situation is hazardous and shows a lack of respect for the people who live in that area.

Police Chief James Viadero said, "You've got our promise that we'll give them a little bit of attention... We'll put some effort in it there."