BREAKING: Norwalk's mayor and local electeds endorse bike lanes for Calf Pasture Beach Road

Paul Zullo, far left, organized the ride to support bike lanes on Calf Pasture Beach Road. Endorsing the effort were, from left, Councilman Nick Kydes, Mayor Moccia and State Representative Gail Lavielle.

Norwalk may soon be getting top-notch bike lanes on Calf Pasture Beach Road. Today, at a bike ride to support the lanes, the mayor came out to give his endorsement. Also supporting the bike lanes were councilman Nick Kydes, who rode with the group, and state representative Gail Lavielle, plus a few dozen kids who hope their trip to school will soon be a lot safer.

This is what a movement looks like. Join us on Facebook.

The sunshine gods were upon us as dozens of riders, many Marvin Elementary families, set out from Marvin down the road to the beach. What is normally 4-lane speedway was temporarily calmed into a street safe enough for kids on training wheels. It was a thrilling sight to see kids enjoying Calf Pasture Beach Road as a safe public space--the way it should be all the time.

Preliminary plans call for the right lanes on Calf Pasture Beach Road to be replaced with bike lanes with a buffer zone between the bike lanes and the road. In addition to creating a major recreational resource and improving safety for kids biking to school, this will also make the narrow sidewalks along the road more tolerable by creating a large buffer between the traffic and the sidewalk. Dangerous conditions for kids walking to Marvin Elementary have been a major issue for neighborhood parents.

Long-term, the mayor acknowledged that the sidewalks on Calf Pasture should be widened, but that will require a lot of construction funds. On the other hand, restriping Calf Pasture into a safer road with bike lanes can be done for next-to-nothing. In the words of Nick Kydes, "It's a no-brainer."

Congratulations to Paul Zullo and Donna Bonato for organizing Saturday's ride and to all the families who participated. With continued persistence we'll hopefully all be enjoying this new resource for Norwalk next summer.