Bus Route Change Was Not Based On Safety
Bus Route Change
Was Not Based On Safety
To the Editor:
The selectman, police chief, Police Commission, and the Queen Street lobby, headed by Bob Geckle, have been pressuring the school administration over the last two years to reroute school buses off Queen Street. Exercising extreme and inappropriate political pressure, Selectman Brimmer and Mr Geckle, chairman of the Fairfield Hills Authority, met with the school administration, attempting to convince them that buses should travel an alternate route. Mr Geckle even stood on Queen Street and counted the number of buses passing by his home.
It is also noteworthy that the discredited $50,000 Queen Street Traffic Safety study by Vollmer Associates didnât even suggest diverting buses in its recommendations to the selectman. Nor was diverting buses discussed as a recommendation by the Queen Street Traffic Oversight Committee, of which the first selectman, Mr Geckle, and the police chief were members.
Last month, however, they finally succeeded in pressuring the school administration to divert school buses between Newtown Middle and Reed Schools onto Route 25 rather than use Queen Street.
I attended the next Police Commission meeting to object. I believe this request was based as much on the Queen Street lobbyâs desire to divert traffic off Queen as it was supposedly safety based. I stated that the new route subjected drivers and children to roads carrying four times the traffic, that they would now have to go through two additional complicated intersections, travel down Route 25, the most accident-prone road in Newtown, and still have to go through the same intersection, which they claim is unsafe. I elaborated that with all the commercial establishments on Route 25 the prospect of vehicles trying to cut in front of school buses during the morning rush was very probable. The Newtown Bee reported that there were five accidents on Route 25 the previous week. I implored the Police Commission to revaluate what I believed was a mistaken decision that appeared to be heavily influence by the Queen Street lobbyâs wish to have less traffic on Queen Street.
Guess what!
On March 15 a school bus loaded with students was in an accident on this supposedly âsaferâ route. A car crossed in front of the school bus at the intersection of Glover and Route 25 on South Main Street. Thirty-four children were put at risk to reduce traffic on Queen Street.
 The same week The Newtown Bee reported an accident on Route 25 at 3:44 pm (prime school bus time) when a vehicle pulled out from a business and made a left turn in front of an approaching vehicle. Two people were taken to the hospital.
When will the selectman and the Police Commission stop catering to Mr Geckleâs Queen Street lobby and govern for the entire town and the safety of our children. When will they create a real traffic and safety plan for the entire town and not just Queen Street? Why and how has the Queen Street lobby gotten this much power? Is this scandal, âQueensGate,â becoming Newtownâs Watergate?
Bruce W. Walczak
12 Glover Avenue, Newtown                                        March 28, 2007