Middletown Residents Support Petition to Change Dangerous Intersection

Residents in Middletown are calling on the state to do something to improve the safety at the intersection of Newfield Street and Fisher Road.

Neighbors say a deadly crash there on Thursday was the latest in a string of close calls and collisions.

“I hear squeaking and then a bang about every other week,” says Tony Rosa.

“I’m always concerned for my safety just to get home every night,” says Dustin Luangkhot.

For drivers there are tense moments sitting on Newfield Street also known as Route 3 waiting to turn left onto Fisher Road.

Despite a 35-mile an hour speed limit on Route 3, cars go much faster and some don’t always realize quickly enough a car has stopped in the one northbound lane.

“My brother got wrecked up there before. It’s a very dangerous area,” says Jeffrey Barbour.

On Thursday, police say 67-year-old William Fetter was a quick left turn away from heading home.

As he waited a car struck him from behind, sending him spinning into the opposite lane, and then a third car hit and killed him.

“He was a nice guy. He was just a nice guy,” says Norman Bishop. “Two days before that accident happened a guy almost ran into the back of me.”

Some neighbors try to avoid the intersection.

Others have signed a petition which recently started on Change.org, asking the state to add a left turn lane.

“Having my own lane to just go into would definitely make things a lot easier, a lot faster, and overall a lot better for this street,” says Luangkhot.

“Whatever they do it would be a great help. They got to do something,” says Rosa.

The Middletown mayor says he’s aware of the petition and he’s asked the Connecticut Department of Transportation to take a look at the intersection and see what if anything can be done.