New Lebbon Rd Is

Neither A Dump Nor A Speedway

To the Editor:

I am writing to voice my frustration about the motorists who use New Lebbon Road and blatantly disregard the posted speed limit. I am also angered by those who use this road as their personal dumpster.

The posted speed limit is 25 mph; not 40 mph and certainly not 50 mph. However speeds in the range of 40 to 50 mph are common. While it may seem that the long, narrow, and less populated areas of this road are free game for speeders, bear in mind that you also share the road with walkers, runners, joggers and cyclists. I walk this road at least three times per week. In the last month, I have been forced into the brush twice by speeding cars. One seemed surprised to see a walker as he was moving at about 50 mph and hugging the curve. He slammed on his brakes, and jerked the wheel at the last moment. Had I not jumped into the brush at the side of the road, he would have hit me. The other motorist never gave any indication he had even seen me as he whipped by me.

Like many other families that like to take walks with their children along this normally quiet road, I often walk with my young son. We see people driving at a high rate of speed and I will motion for them to slow down. The general response is a dirty look, or a finger flipped out the window, as if I am the one who doesn’t have a right to walk safely with my child along the road where I reside.

I’d like to know just what it will take to get people to slow down. I hope it won’t be the injury or death of a pedestrian or cyclist. I’d love to see the Newtown Police issue some speeding tickets here.

Another serious problem is the litter along the stretch of road from High Bridge to Marlin. My family has walked this stretch with trash bags in hand and in two hours we picked up three large bags of garbage. Are people really this lazy where they can’t find a trash can somewhere? Can’t they bring their trash home to dispose of? After we picked up the road, it was only a matter of days before it started piling up again. For those of you who don’t think anything of tossing your garbage out the window, maybe you could stop and think that those of us who reside here do not want to live in a trash dump and we don’t want to pick up after you. Your actions are incredibly selfish.

For those of you who use New Lebbon as a cut through to Route 34, I am begging you to obey the speed limit and let us live. And please, keep your trash to yourself. Not only is it the law, it’s common courtesy.

Carolyn Bergen

89 New Lebbon Road, Sandy Hook    August 27, 2001