Expect delays in the area of exits 41-40 in Westport on the Merritt Parkway northbound because of a three-car accident.
State police, and the Westport FD are on the scene.
Archive for February, 2012
Get there by bike: Is the region “bike friendly”?
This Sunday, the Connecticut Post will be taking a more detailed look at the “bike-friendliness” of Bridgeport and the surrounding towns. To get a taste of the situation, I rode about 18 miles this morning on my bike. Beginning at our newsroom in downtown Bridgeport, I rode about 5.5 miles north to the Westfield Trumbull Shopping Park, then about a mile west to Sacred Heart University, and finally about 6.5 miles to Fairfield University. From there, it was a 5-mile return trip to downtown Bridgeport. So, it was about 18 mile altogether, including the little side trips that I took.
Here is a little slide show of my trip.
-
- I rode on State Street from Fairfield to get back to the newsroom. Went by Kennedy Fried Chicken, which, in case you’re wondering, actually pre-dates the other KFC, hence the “KFC” sign in the window. They probably have the best fried chicken sandwich around.
-
- On the way up Park Avenue, I stopped in at St. Margaret’s Shrine, an “Oasis of Peace” that’s often overlooked. The shrine has this amazingly faithful reproduction of Michelangelo’s Pietà.
-
- A few minutes later, I was at the Westfield Shopping Park, which, to my astonishment, had a few bike racks. They’re outside of Target’s lower level entrance.
-
- All of the clothing stores had their sping collections on display.
-
- It was a long walk from the bike rack to to the Food Court, where I treated myself to a heart-shaped doughnut with sprinkles.
-
- When I returned to my bike, I discovered that someone had fed my machine French fries while I was gone.
-
- Then, I was off to Sacred Heart University, via Old Town Road. SHU is in “bicycle denial.” The students there were spending 10 minutes looking for a parking space, and many of them lived within easy biking distance. This is SHU’s one small bike rack.
-
- Here’s one of the many parking lots, filled with cars. The freshmen actually have the easiest time –– they live in dorms within easy walking distance.
-
- On the way, I stopped at a fitness club; 300-plus cars in the parking lot and one bike. At least they have a bike rack.
-
- From SHU, it was off to Fairfield University, via the Kings Highway. I guess the king didn’t ordain room for bikes on the road.
-
- I had a not-so-healthy lunch at the John A. Barone Student Center. A fried chicken sandwich, a banana, cookies and a Diet Coke.
-
- At Fairfield Universty, a lot more students are riding bikes than what was the case a few years back, in part because the school installed a number of new bike racks.
-
- On the way up Park Avenue, I stopped in at St. Margaret’s Shrine, an “Oasis of Peace” that usually overlooked. The shrine has this amazingly faithful reproduction of Michelangelo’s Pietà.
-
- My bike, outside of 410 State Street. Mission accomplished.
![getthere9[2]](http://blog.ctnews.com/traffic/files/2012/02/getthere92.jpg)
Let the government help you get there
We got a lot of feedback after our “Get There” project, in which reporters gave up their cars for a day and commuted to work and all of their assignments through mass transit.
Samantha Stenbeck, the outreach coordinator for CT Rides, got in touch with me to let me know her office is planning a “Try It” week in May that will be similar to “Get There.”
If you want to try taking more public transportation, the state Department of Transportation can help. The CT Rides program helps businesses and their employees find their best options for commuting to work every day and in their personal lives). Their options include carpooling, vanpooling, taking the bus, train, telecommuting, etc.
“We help the employer provide information for their employees and find the best options for them based on where they live and are commuting to,” Stenbeck said.
For more information, contact a Connecticut Commuter Services representative at 1-877-CTRIDES (1-877-287-4337)
Walking the bike path to work
BRIDGEPORT — “Oh, they just put it there?” said Darren Thompson, 19, climbing off his purple mountain bike Friday morning on Railroad Avenue, amid a scattering of pebbles and broken glass.
Beneath the elevated Metro-North train tracks and tall abandoned buildings, my guiding white line — and Thompson’s, I assumed — stretched into the distance, occasionally punctuated by a bicycle stenciled into the pavement.
Tim, left, and Darren Thompson, the day's first and only biker
I was walking the “Black Rock to Seaside Park Bike Route,” a $15,000 project that seemed to go in overnight last September, two weeks before the Democratic mayoral primary. The 5-mile patchwork of white paint and green signs with arrows was designed, officially, to make straight the path between two of Bridgeport’s gems.
A nice place for a start to the Friday morning commute to work along the Black Rock-to-Seaside Bike Path
Leaving my Black Rock apartment, I expected bicycles. But walking to Captain’s Cove Seaport, I found none. I stopped to shoot hoops at a basketball court lacking an entire basket. I chatted with residents of P.T. Barnum Housing Complex waiting — “Too long!” — for the No. 5 bus. I bought coffee at a mini-mart with a sign out front announcing, “We Have Spanish Food & Ice Cold Beers.” I talked Super Bowl with an Ivory Coast native who couldn’t fathom why, in Connecticut — “In New England!” — there are New York Giants fans.
But no bikes.
Shooting hoops at basketball court near PT Barnum houses; note the pole behind me lacks a basket
Until, heading up the trench-like Railroad Avenue, two miles in, I heard pedaling. I tried looking harmless as I flagged down the stranger. He was headed to the YMCA, he said. Loves bikes. Has six of them. In Bridgeport, he only rides the $5 one he bought from a stranger. “They just don’t fix the roads in Bridgeport. It’s crazy.”
Then Darren Thompson pedaled his purple mountain bike up a $15,000 path he’d never heard of.
—Tim
Augustus Byfield, 60, waits for the No. 5 bus to his Boston Ave. home
