Sidewalks And Politics Don’t Mix

To the Editor:

Herb Rosenthal continues to demonstrate to the residents of Newtown that politics are more important than making correct decisions.

The selectman voted in November to put funds in the capital budget for sidewalks on Queen Street.

 This was one of the recommendations by The Queen Street Traffic Study. That study also recommended that sidewalks be completed on the upper part of Church Hill and on Main Street in front of the police station and the Newtown Bee Pleasance.

One has to question why the selectman singled out only Queen Street for the sidewalk improvements and funding. Where is the plan for sidewalks in Newtown? Why was the traffic study ignored except for Queen Street? Residents are very aware that they cannot walk the full loop around the center of town because of the missing sidewalks down Church Hill and at the end of Main Street. What special hold does Queen Street have on Mr Rosenthal and the other selectman?

One also has to question the location of the sidewalks on Queen Street. The Borough government recommended that the sidewalks be on the east side of Queen Street connecting the Middle School with Reed School and Fairfield Hills. The east side has only one side street, Grand [Place], that would be required to cross. The east side is the location of town-owned open space and even a nursery school. The Police Commission recommended that the location of the sidewalks be made after appropriate study and community input.

The selectman first voted to place the sidewalks on the east side, the most logical, least costly, and the side recommended by the Borough government. Even community input at the selectmen’s meeting suggested the east side. However, at the next meeting this decision was reversed and the location was changed to the west side. The west side would require middle school students and pedestrians walking to Reed School or Fairfield Hills to cross Queen Street, cross Meadow, Lovell, and Borough, and then cross both sides of Queen Street again to get to Fairfield Hills. Who pressured the selectman to change the location? Where was the community input and appropriate study the Police Commission called for? Why was the Borough recommendation ignored? Why were the needs of the entire community not taken into account when considering the location of the sidewalks?

Newtown needs a communitywide traffic management plan, and that includes a long-term plan for sidewalks on those roads within the center of town where heavy volumes of vehicles travel daily. If town or state funds are going to be utilized, the needs of the entire community should be evaluated. Mr Rosenthal appears to once again be putting politics ahead of making the correct decisions for Newtown.

Bruce Walczak

12 Glover Avenue, Newtown                                     December 3, 2008