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GREENWICH, Conn. Residents of Mead Avenue in Greenwich will get a reprieve from parking congestion after the Board of Selectmen unanimously voted to approve a pilot neighborhood parking program.
The situation on Mead for parking is an impossible situation, said Don Foley, a resident of the street for the past 30 years. He had suggested a full parking ban on the street and asked, How is this going to be enforced?
Under the pilot program, only residents of Mead Avenue and their guests who have permits will be able to park vehicles on the street from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays. The three-month pilot program will begin in November at the earliest, said Allen Corry, director of parking services for the town.
Residents have complained about spillover parking from both the Post Road commercial businesses and the River Road medical complex over the past year, said Corry. Vehicles often block the line of sight from residential driveways, making it difficult to see oncoming traffic.
With the cars stacked on the side of the street every day, it makes it hard for cars traveling down the road (often at speeds in excess of the posted speed limit) to see pedestrians," Mead Avenue resident Rodney Bienvenu said in a letter to Corry in late July. "It also makes it hard or impossible for large emergency vehicles to use the road if that was ever a necessity.
After receiving letters asking for the street to be added to the towns residential parking program, Corry took the issue to the selectmen, who agreed to a three-month pilot program. Other parking zoned streets in Greenwich include parts of Bruce Park Avenue, 17-65 Ridge St. and Havemeyer Place, as well as Maher Avenue at Widgeon Way, among others.
Greenwich police found that after 9 a.m. and in early afternoon when cars were parked on both sides of the street, vehicles had to give way to oncoming vehicles. There was barely enough space for one car to pass.
Another concern of some residents was they felt the speeding cars were the problem, said Corry, who asked the Greenwich Police Department to set up a speed analysis on Mead Avenue from Sept. 1 to Sept. 6. The posted speed on the street is 25 mph. Despite resident concerns, police found the average speed during the time of analysis was 23.2 northbound and 24.5 southbound. Corry said the speed would be monitored again during the pilot program.
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