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Norwalk pushes ahead with controversial roundabout redesign despite resident opposition: 'Not safe'.NORWALK — Norwalk’s City Council unanimously approved a contract to design a new roundabout at the intersection of Gregory Boulevard and Fifth Street, despite resident opposition.During a Tuesday night meeting, officials said although they understand residents' concerns, the intersection is “not safe” and something must be done about it.Advertisement Article continues below this ad “One of the things I heard amongst the breadth of feedback from folks who feel very passionately one way or the other is that we all agree that safety comes first,” said Councilman At-Large Colin Hosten during the meeting.“Nobody wants somebody to have a very unfortunate situation or loss of life, etc.” Hosten said he knows this issue from personal experience and said “it’s not something I wish on anybody.” He elaborated Wednesday afternoon that he was referring to a loved one in a different state who previously experienced a collision due to similar issues with a “badly constructed roundabout” and needed long-term recovery.“People were aware it was problematic and no one ever did anything about it,” Hosten said Wednesday.“We’re hoping to avoid a similar kind of regret.Although it wasn’t Norwalk, there was some similarities.” Advertisement Article continues below this ad Want more Norwalk Hour?During the meeting, Director of Transportation, Mobility and Parking Jim Travers presented a video that was shot from 2 p.m.to 6 p.m on May 19 at the intersection.The video showed vehicles having trouble navigating the current roundabout, with some either stopping or making wrong turns.“I believe this intersection is just not safe for cars, pedestrians, or cyclists,” said Councilman At-Large Jesse Buccolo.“It’s not intuitive to approach, cars don’t know who to yield to, and there are a lot of cars that move fast around it.” Buccolo said he lives in the Marvin Beach neighborhood and has firsthand experienced at the roundabout.Advertisement Article continues below this ad “I really don’t feel safe going to the intersection, and actually, I don’t feel safe going anywhere near it,” he said.“But it also has speeding impacts that make it dangerous for myself and my 2-year-old son to get to Ludlow Park, and to travel to the Marvin School and to get down to the beach.” City officials hosted a meeting on May 21 to discuss the project, where majority of the speakers were East Norwalk residents who opposed it.Most of them cited the cost for the design as a major factor, saying the funds should be used for other more important issues in the city.Others, quite simply, said the roundabout is fine just the way it is.Both residents and officials who lived in the area cited “construction fatigue” as another reason for the opposition due to other ongoing projects that have disrupted their daily lives, primarily due to noise and traffic problems, like the Walk Bridge replacement project.However, Travers said there are plenty of neighbors who have complained about the roundabout for years, which was ultimately the catalyst for this project.Advertisement Article continues below this ad “First and foremost, what we put in front of you was a safety issue,” Travers told the council Tuesday.“We were alerted to a safety issue by residents who contacted us, we observed those safety concerns, and we put forth what could be.Quite honestly, I think those are the things that help us be a better city.” The $246,000 contract is for both design and engineering services with Wethersfield-based civil engineering company VHB, which is covered by a $400,000 state grant.Travers on Wednesday said the vote the night before included an amendment to the contract to add traffic-calming measures onto Fifth Street.He said the measures would help accommodate the 10-foot-wide path connection to the Norwalk River Valley Trail that was included in the roundabout project.“It allows us to open up and get additional concepts in there,” Travers said.“I think we would have gotten them anyway, but it made people feel more comfortable.… We always knew that we would look at other things.” Advertisement Article continues below this ad Travers said there was a community meeting about the project scheduled for June 22, but since the design approval came later than expected, the meeting will be pushed back to the fall.“I’m concerned that we wouldn’t give people enough time to come to the meeting, and then anything over the summer is usually not the best time,” he said.Travers said the project is expected to take between 12 to 18 months from whenever it starts, which he said wouldn’t be until at least late 2027.“I think we’ll see a number of the projects that are currently in construction in the area starting to wrap up, so there will be a little reprieve from that, and then we will work through what’s the best times to do the construction,” he said.Advertisement Article continues below this ad He said the construction is estimated to cost about $3.5 million.So far, the city received $850,000 in federal funding, so Travers said he’ll continue to work on getting more grants.“I do believe that we’ll have a great chance of securing the additional funding,” he said.