Fairfield Joins DOT's Challenge For Safer People And Safer Streets

FAIRFIELD, Conn. – Fairfield has joined the U.S. Department of Transportation’s 2015 “Mayor’s Challenge for Safer People and Safer Streets.”

From left: Linda Lach; Keith Gallinelli; Fairfield First Selectman Michael Tetreau; Don Hyman; state Rep. Cristin McCarthy Vahey (D-Fairfield); Laura OBrien; Edward Lane; and Elizabeth Gardner.

by Stephanie Mojica

05/28/2015 5:30 a.m.

More than 250 communities throughout the United States have joined the program, according to a press release.

“We have to learn to live, walk, bike and ride together safely,” Fairfield First Selectman Mike Tetreau said in a press release.

All communities enrolled in the program are responsible for complying with seven safety objectives, including improving road design, making the streets safer and more convenient for people of all abilities and improving biking and walking safety regulations.

Fairfield’s nine-member Bicycle and Pedestrian Committee hopes to add at least two new bike routes to connect residential neighborhoods with major commercial destinations, such as the downtown shopping district.

About 50 bicyclists recently tested a “Library to Library” bike route, which connects the main library to the Fairfield Woods library branch.

More than 80 percent of those bicyclists surveyed said they would consider riding bikes instead of driving their motor vehicles, if the route was approved with the appropriate safety signs and road markings.

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