[Please only sign this petition if you live/walk/bike in Collinsville/Canton, Connecticut. Each adult living at the same address can sign separately. Include your full name/town/zip code and submit one time only per individual. NOTE: Change.org will ask for a monetary donation after adding your name, but this DOES NOT benefit our local cause. $ only goes to the Change.org platform. ]

Join Maple Avenue residents in demanding urgent action from CT DOT to address Pedestrian Safety and Traffic Calming in the residential Collinsville Historic District (Connecticut State Scenic Road 565-E). Approximately 13,000 cars, trucks and motorcycles travel through historic downtown Collinsville, CT daily. Reckless driving, speeding and unrestricted truck through-traffic on Maple Avenue negatively impact Collinsville as an attractive and enjoyable place to live and visit. Maple Avenue residents can no longer tolerate the current highway conditions where pedestrians and bicyclists are at continual risk.

Maple Avenue residents have repeatedly asked the Town of Canton and State of Connecticut to properly address safety concerns on busy State Road 565. The State DOT relies on the number of crashes or deaths as justification for road safety improvements, however our families want to PREVENT pedestrian fatalities. Please join Maple Avenue and other impacted Collinsville residents in requesting the following short-term safety and calming solutions:

1. Banning Through Trucks from S.R. 565 - Large trucks use S.R. 565 as a cut-through road and tractor trailers speed down Maple Avenue without any regard for safety or speed limit. These heavy, oversized vehicles are extremely dangerous to other motorists, pedestrians and bicyclists. Vibrations induced by multiple axles bearing loads with unrestricted weight degrades quality of life for local residents and has unknown long-term effects on historic buildings.
2. Making a Safer Crosswalk with Pedestrian Signal at Dyer/High - Brand new white paint does not make this crosswalk safer, as the crosswalk sits at the bottom of a dip in the road with poor visibility, cars and trucks still speed, and there are blind spots at every corner of this intersection, making turns and straight crossings terrifying.
3. Creating a 3-Way Stop at River Road Intersection - This extremely hazardous intersection puts countless pedestrians in harm's way. Vehicles making turns onto Maple from River Road are at risk due to high speeds of crossing traffic. The Town of Canton is currently awaiting State DOT approval for a 3-way stop.
4. Reducing Speed Limit to 25 mph - Reduction to 25 mph speed limit would lessen noise, improve safety and help to calm traffic. We support Automated Speed Camera Enforcement for CPD to use to maintain traffic safety in our neighborhood. Legislation was recently passed permitting this safety enforcement measure: House Bill 5917 is a reaction to the deaths of 239 drivers and passengers and 75 pedestrians in 2022, the deadliest year on Connecticut roadways in decades, according to the state Department of Transportation
5. Installing an Additional Dynamic Feedback Radar Sign - Maple Avenue needs a posted speed limit sign for eastbound traffic, particularly for cars/trucks making left turns from River Road onto Maple Avenue that do not know the speed limit is no longer 40 mph. A second dynamic feedback radar sign is needed for eastbound traffic to demonstrate routine dangerous speeding in BOTH DIRECTIONS on Maple Avenue.
6. Planning / Designing Pedestrian Walkway for Thayer Ave. Residents - Families who walk or bike from the Thayer Avenue end of the residential historic district to get to schools, library, community center and downtown are particularly at risk along this section of S.R. 565 without a sidewalk or buffer zone (from Thayer to Dyer/High) to protect pedestrians and bicyclists from speeding cars and trucks.

Adding your name to this petition means that you support traffic calming and safety improvement measures on Maple Avenue (S.R. 565) to make Collinsville Historic District the tourist destination and pedestrian-oriented neighborhood that regional planners envisioned in the CT DOT 1996 Collinsville Scenic Corridor Management Plan.

Thank you!