They all lived happily ever after.
This story starts with the end, because above everything else, Wilton kids are now a little bit safer, and that’s the important thing.
But what it took to get there was a little bit more.
Yesterday, Nov. 26, Wilton Police distributed a news alert to local media about the “Danbury Rd. (Route 7) School Zone.” It detailed a bit of GOOD news, and there’s nothing more that we like here at GOOD Morning Wilton than GOOD news:
The Wilton Police Department in conjunction with the Wilton Board of Education is in the final stage of implementing a School Zone on Route 7 (Danbury Rd.) in the area of Wilton High School. The Wilton Police Commission, which is the Local Traffic Authority, as recognized by State Law, initiated plans to designate this area as a School Zone in an effort to enhance safety in the area during school openings and closings. The current speed, 40 mph will be reduced to 30 mph between the hours of 07:00 – 09:00 AM and 2:00 – 4:00 PM. The area of speed reduction will be clearly posted for motorists to observe from the Pimpewaug Bridge to Allen’s Meadows.
The tentative installation date of signage is scheduled for the first week in December. Along with Connecticut Department of Transportation signs indicating the reduced speed limit, poles will be installed in each direction that will alert motorists of the School Zone. There will be solar powered panels that will operate 2 – 12” yellow flashing beacons, radar speed indicator and a “School Zone” speed sign will be displayed.
The Wilton Police Department encourages safe driving habits by all motorists.
Happily (but not yet ‘ever after’), we posted about the school zone on our GMW.com Facebook page.
Then we heard from readers, both in the comments of the post and privately. Seems that there was someone else behind the scenes who played an instrumental role in getting that speed zone from fantasy to reality. That someone was a determined Wilton mom who wanted to make sure that Wilton kids were as safe as possible.
Since we’ve made this a fairy tale analogy, let’s call her the Fairy Godmother of Rt. 7.
That would be Maggie Dobbins.
Let’s just say that we heard from more than enough people who said Dobbins was the person who fought tooth and nail to make the school zone happen, and that “this was her thing.”
With sons in high school, Dobbins was well aware of how dangerous Rt. 7 could be for new student drivers–presumably with less experience behind the wheel–and how difficult it was to cross the road, even at crosswalks and obeying pedestrian signals.
“When my younger son was a C.I.T. (counselor-in-training) at the Wilton Y, I was asked by the Y not to let him cross the street because they were just too nervous, a couple of kids were almost clipped. My oldest was a newly-minted driver when they put in that gas station across with the cheap gas and the cheap sodas–he’d be trying to cross from the high school to get there. I was happy for all the businesses that have come [since the Rt. 7 widening] but the speed on Rt. 7 was really becoming an issue,” she said.
As PTA president at the high school from 2012-2013, Dobbins was in a good position to try and make a difference. She started networking, speaking with State Senator Toni Boucher, Wilton Y director Bob McDowell, WHS Principal Bob McDonnell and others, gathering information and trying to determine what needed to be done. She learned that because Rt. 7 is a state road, CT’s Department of Transportation was the entity that needed to designate it as an official school zone. It wasn’t yet one simply because no one had ever applied to make it so.
So she began a one-person email campaign to Wilton’s Police Commission to get the topic in front of the powers-that-be. She attended a meeting of the commission in October 2012. “I wasn’t rabble-rousing. I went in with a small group, and I asked them, ‘Why isn’t this a school zone, and what do we do to make it a school zone?’ You have people who cross the street to get lunch and coffee. There had been like three accidents in the 10 days before the meeting. I told them, ‘This is a tragedy waiting to happen.’ They voted that night to apply.”
Time passed, and no news. “I followed up for months! Months I followed up!” Dobbins said. “I spent hours on this, I have a whole file on those signs!” Dobbins said, laughing. “It took a little bit of pushing but we got it done. I’m so psyched to see them!”
What kept her motivation so strong was a desire to try and protect not just her children but all of Wilton’s kids and others who frequent the area. “It was a really big concern, with a lot of these new license holders [i.e. high school students].” Dobbins chief worry was that since Rt. 7 has been expanded, new destinations like the Coffee Barn and the gas station has increased traffic, and with the amount of school buses, navigating the turn outs onto the road can be complicated for new drivers. And she fears that when other motorists speed along the route, they won’t be able to stop in time if an inexperienced teen driver turned onto Rt. 7 in front of them.
She also pointed out that there is no existing sign for Wilton High School, as the old one was never replaced after the road widening project. “You have all these commuters who may not know there’s a school there. If you were a new commuter, you wouldn’t know that was a school.”
Chief Michael Lombardo hadn’t responded to a GMW.com request for comment about Dobbins’ role in the school zone effort. But that’s ok.
Because no matter who was responsible for the idea or getting the application processed through the state and getting the signs ordered and installed, the good thing is–those signs will be there, complete with flashing lights and posted speed limits less than they are now.
And hopefully that does mean that more of Wilton’s children will live happily ever after.
UPDATE: Following publication of the article, we received this emailed comment from Chief Lombardo: “Maggie Dobbins was one of the first to approach us with support for the School Zone. She and Bob McDowell, as well as the BOE were helpful in moving this forward to gain State designation of a School Zone in this area.”