Protect the Partrick Wetlands
and our Community


Presentation in Opposition to 22 House Cluster Development on the Partrick Wetlands

Presenter: Jamie Cochrane
Partrick Road (Safety, Traffic and Congestion)


Associated Powerpoint

My name is Jamie Cochrane and I reside at 64 Partrick Road with my wife and 3 year old son . I have lived in Westport for 53 years in the neighborhood of Partrick/Old hill road . Five generations of my family have lived in the neighborhood since the early 1900's .I am here tonight to speak about our neighborhood with the hope of protecting it from over development.

A lot has changed over the years around Partrick road, there are many more new homes and developments, smaller houses have become bigger, traffic has become almost unbearable. There is one thing that has remained the same and that is Partrick road itself. It is still the same small, windy, narrow , country road that it was when I was a young boy.

As a child you could walk the streets in the neighborhood and not see a car for hours. We had neighborhood football teams back then that would use the Partrick Green as our football field .We weren't bussed around by huge SUVS that today have a hard time navigating Partrick road. We walked and rode our bikes everywhere, even to Kings Highway school. Well guess what. My 3 year old son will never be able to enjoy the boyhood fun that I experienced, because you cannot even step foot out onto Partrick road without the fear of getting run over or hit by lawn service truck or an SUV unable to stay in their lane .The S curve in front of my home resembles a Ferrari test track. Parts of the road are so narrow that you are required to almost come to a complete stop or you will have an accident. I have actually seen cars clip mirrors because the road is so narrow .

I would like the commission to understand that traffic from 22 new houses driving at 40mph through blind curves may end in a tragic event for an innocent neighbor just trying to walk to visit some friends.

The developer may argue that the majority of the proposed homes with be accessed via Newtown Turnpike, which is designated as a collector road. We can assume that these people will shop on the post road and would use the Westport train station. We know they'd leave the development, turn left on Newtown and then left of Crawford, to the intersection of Partrick and Crawford and then right onto Partrick to Cranbury and south to Town.

Crawford, like Partrick, is already over burdened with traffic and people speed through what is marked as a 20 MPH turn. But again more traffic will be placed on Partrick.

Partrick Road was a secondary road in 1960 and confirmed by the 1971 Wilbur traffic report. The road was designated a collector road in 1987 and 1997, but is nothing more than a local road being abused as a cut through. Partrick road was not and never will be a major thoroughfare and to consider it an Arterial road specific to this proposal from ARS would most certainly put our neighborhood in tremendous jeopardy.

So let's take a look at Partrick.

(explain the pictures) Partrick is a very curvy and hilly road with a speed limit of 25 MPH. It runs for approximately 1 1/2 miles and in some places it is only 16 feet wide, with an average width of 18 feet throughout. The perimeter of the road is lined with stone walls in front of almost all the residences.

Let's take a look at a trip down Patrick.

Show video.

That's Partrick road, a small and narrow road that is already dangerous and overly traveled.

I ask this commission to look to their charter and legislative intent to decrease traffic and the protection of public health. I ask this commission to utilize your authority vested in the special permit Section 43 and 44 which also says to decrease traffic and protect public health and safety.

Thank you.