Letter: Busy intersection needs a traffic light

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To the editor,

I am writing about a serious concern regarding the traffic issues and explicit danger of the intersection where Summit Road meets Route 70 (Waterbury Road) in Cheshire.

As anyone who travels this area knows it is fraught with danger. Cars back up on Summit Road trying to make left turns onto Route 70. Cars coming from the Waterbury area or leaving I-84 come flying through this area at high speeds. Folks hoping to turn right onto Summit Road are often tailgated and sometimes even rear-ended. Cars coming from Cheshire to turn left onto Summit Road present another danger, as cars back up behind them, try to go around them, or they make the turn at the same time that cars leaving Summit Road move into the intersection.

This is a very high traffic area, and it is only a matter of time before there is a serious accident — or more than one — and people will be seriously injured or killed.

I realize that some of the excessive traffic in this area is a direct result of the I-84 construction in Waterbury, but based on the conditions in our state government, I don’t see this construction being finished any time soon.

Therefore, it is my suggestion that the residents of Naugatuck, Prospect and Cheshire get together to petition local officials and the state of Connecticut Department of Transportation to put a traffic light at this intersection.

I know I am not the only one dealing with this — that is evident by the sheer volume of traffic in the area during both morning and evening rush hours. Perhaps we can remedy this hazard with the installation of a traffic light, including left turn signaling, before we regret not doing so.

Susan Guerrera

Prospect