To the editor:
I have been a long time resident of Lakeside Avenue, and it amazes me why people race up and down Lakeside on a regular basis. What you may not realize as you are speeding on the street is you’re endangering the safety of the dozens of children and local residents that live near and use . It would be a tragedy if there was an unnecessary accident because someone was racing to catch a train or revving their car at the end of a long day to remind the world who’s boss.
If endangering the families and friends who live on Lakeside and frequent Tilley Pond isn’t enough to compel you to slow down, how about the fact that you are breaking the law? The speed limit is 25 mph, which is regularly ignored, sometimes at amazing speeds. Why not reduce the speed limit to 15? What about putting in speed bumps to help control the speed limit?
Residents have been posing these questions to the town for years, to no avail. A town official once gave me this unofficial reason for not implementing speed bumps, “People use Lakeside as a cut-through to get to the train or to avoid town. Speed bumps would be a deterrent and nuisance for people trying to get where they are going.” Wow.
The more official reason I have been given is that speed bumps on Lakeside would inhibit emergency vehicles from getting to their destinations quickly. If this is true, why are speed bumps located on other streets in Darien? While this may be a legitimate response, I wonder why this trumps what I believe to be common sense for helping secure a safer environment for families and visitors to Lakeside and Tilley Pond.
The next time you are driving on Lakeside ask yourself, “How would I want others to drive on my street?” Please do your part as a Darien resident to help us maintain a safe environment for the friends and families of Lakeside and Tilley Pond.
Rob Macdonald
