To the Editor:

I live in Southbury and teach at Masuk High School [in Monroe], a commute that takes me past the commuter lot at Exit 11 on I-84. Every morning I see young people parking in the lot and walking across Wasserman Way toward Newtown High School. Their path lacks sidewalks and a walk light, and the traffic at 6:40 am when I pass by there is heavy. Two lanes approach Route 34, one runs the other way. There is no safe way to cross, no safe point at which to attempt it. This situation is an accident, perhaps even a tragedy, waiting to happen.

In the 19 years I have made this commute, it wasn't always like this. Only in the past six years have I noticed it. Since I doubt that the sheer number of students with driver's licenses has changed markedly, this suggests that a policy for student parking at the school underlies the perceived need to park away from campus and risk the traffic to get to class. I have over the years contacted the school, Newtown police, and the state troopers on this topic, and sometimes there have been patrol cars in the lot cautioning students away from using the lot. No permanent presence or lasting solution has emerged, though.

All responsible parties -the town, the school district, the school, and law enforcement- should engage on this problem and do so with some urgency. Either encourage the use of the lot by students, put in sidewalks and a walk light, or find a way to get them onto school property with their cars, where they can be relatively safe. To do nothing will, I fear, bring us closer to that inevitable day when everyone throws up his hands and exclaims, "How did this happen?"

Trying to be a good citizen,

Ben Strange

11 Oakdale Manor Road, Southbury         September 15, 2016