In the past I have read and responded to the concerns of our local "traffic committee". Some concerns of course are justified, others seem excessive, and in my opinion, upset the rural flavor of our town.

On Saturday, I needed to travel to Route 1 in Madison. I decided to take Green Hill Road all the way to Copse Road in Madison. As I was driving along, I realized that I was seeing many more "traffic" signs than usual and I was disturbed by the unsightly condition of our country road as a result. It was very obvious to me as I drove into Madison, that there were significantly less traffic signs along their portion of Green Hill Road. On the return trip I decided that I would make an effort to count the signs on both sides of the road and keep track of the miles I traveled. I would like to share with the Killingworth community my findings.

On my way back home, I entered Green Hill Road at the intersection of Route 79. I set my tripometer to "0" and started immediately to look for traffic signs. The stretch of Green Hill Road from the intersection of Route 79 to the Killingworth town line at the Hammonassett River bridge was 1.6 miles. Within that distance the town of Madison has erected 7 traffic signs along Green Hill Road. I stopped on the bridge and reset my tripometer to "0" and once again was on the lookout for traffic signs. It didn't take long to find them of course, and the stretch of Green Hill Road in the "rural" town of Killingworth is amass with them. I continued to count, taking my time, the entire stretch of Green Hill Road to the intersection of Route 81. The total distance from the Killingworth town line to Route 81 was 2.7 miles. Now are you ready????????? I counted "40" traffic signs within that section of Green Hill Road. This was counting ONLY traffic signs, nothing else. Now, I will admit that I could possibly be off by one or two signs, given the excessive amount of signs to count, but even still, this is an insane amount of signage.

It disturbs me immensely that my town is starting to look like a sign dump. What are our government officials thinking? I saw a ditch along Green Hill Road that had reflector signs the length of it that looked as if they were maybe 2 feet apart! (I didn't count them by the way.) I'm still trying to figure out why there is a new STOP sign at the corner of Green Hill Road and Chittenden Road. What is that suppose to be accomplishing? It was so obvious to me, when I entered Madison on my trip to Route 1, that I had come upon a beautiful country, rural road. I immediately realized that Green Hill Road in Killingworth no longer maintains it's rural flavor. As a long time resident of this town I find that most disturbing.

I am writing this letter in hopes that other citizens of Killingworth, those who truly love this town for what it used to be, a beautiful, peaceful, rural town, will begin to take notice of the dramatic changes that are occurring. That others will raise their voices with concern for the future of Killingworth and that common sense will prevail.

Sincerely,
Kathleen Perry