Arcuri's Pizza & Salad sits at 226 East Putnam Avenue, and the restaurant dates its founding to 1971. Its neighbors on the block are Randy's Wines at 230, Gelato & Cioccolato at 232 and Roost Kitchen + Coffee at 236. Roost opened its Cos Cob location in November 2021. Their customers rely on a row of one-hour spaces at the curb, beside the rock outcropping near Cos Cob School.
Those spaces are now under review. Farther east, a drainage crew is preparing to bring a crane onto Route 1. Down the road, the Cos Cob Post Office has been dark since August. The three stories come from different agencies and different budgets, but they share one fact. East Putnam Avenue is a state road, so each fix has to be built around it.
Four Storefronts and a Single Fog Line
In August, the Town proposed prohibiting parking around 216 to 232 East Putnam Avenue. Greenwich Police Deputy Chief Jim Bonney oversees Parking Services. He told the Board of Selectmen that the space inside the single white fog line is too narrow for a parked car, and that parked vehicles stick out into the travel lane.
"This is definitely a safety issue. We had 9 accidents there last year," Bonney said, according to Greenwich Free Press. He described drivers swerving across into the other lane to get around parked cars, and car doors being struck as people got in and out. First Selectman Fred Camillo said he checked the spot himself the day before the meeting. "I took my Ford pickup truck and when I opened the door, the door was completely in the traffic lane." Bonney added that pickups towing trailers have parked there with four or five feet of vehicle in the lane.
The Board did not vote at its August 27 meeting. According to the official minutes, Camillo grew up in the area and called the problem long-standing. He wanted to hold the decision until the Town could find an approach with less impact on local businesses. Selectwoman Rabin suggested adding signage to point drivers toward parking they might not know about.
Why the Fix Runs Through the State
Bonney stated the core constraint plainly at the meeting. "It's a state owned road. We can't just widen the road," he said, and he estimated the state would need twenty years to do it. He also said every available space along the Post Road is already in use for on-street parking. The minutes record his point that widening would cost millions of dollars and take a long time.
Because of that, the most practical option on the table is new paint, which only the Connecticut Department of Transportation can apply. Camillo asked Bonney to contact CT DOT about restriping and to "check all the boxes and make sure we're doing all we can." Bonney said he doubted the state would act, but agreed the Town should ask.
Randy Caravella, owner of Randy's Wines, spoke at the meeting and made a specific suggestion. Today there is no parking on the south side of the road from Mead Avenue down to the Trovare building. He said shifting the lane lines over would gain about two feet. He also said several business owners in that part of Cos Cob had not yet been consulted, and he asked for a meeting with the businesses, DOT, DPW and Parking Services. Camillo agreed and said he would like to see the spaces replaced. He pointed to Glenville Pizza, where three spaces were found to replace those lost to a new traffic light during the Glenville corridor work.
Where it stands as of October 8: No vote on the Cos Cob item appears in the September 10 Selectmen minutes, and we found no record of a later vote. For now, the one-hour spaces remain under discussion, and we found no public record of whether the meeting with DOT has happened.
The Same Road Is Getting a 20-Foot Manhole
East of the shops, Route 1 plays a different part. On September 24, Department of Public Works commissioner Gabriella Circosta-Cohee presented a stormwater project at Valleywood Road. Runoff now comes down Stanwich Road, turns onto Valleywood and collects in backyards she described as "a bowl." The project will install catch basins at the corner of Valleywood and send the water into an elliptical structure under Route 1 that CT DOT owns.
Right before that connection, the Town will dig 20 feet down to set a very large manhole with a four-foot sump. The sump lets sediment settle where crews can clean it out before it causes backups further downstream. Installing it requires a crane on Route 1. The project was originally planned for last spring. It was delayed because the manhole was a special order that took extra time to arrive. This is phase 1 of a three-phase project. FGB Construction is the general contractor, and the DPW Engineering Division designed it and is managing it.
| Detail | What the Town has said |
|---|---|
| Anticipated start | October 5 |
| Overall length | About two months |
| Eastbound closure | Old Post Road #6, between Stanwich Road and Valleywood Road |
| Closure timing | About three weeks, starting roughly two weeks into the project; an earlier estimate said two weeks |
| Detour | Signs at Chestnut Island direct eastbound traffic via Field Road to Valleywood Road |
| Westbound lane | Stays open |
| Work hours | Monday to Friday 6 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Saturday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; no night work |
If work began on schedule, the eastbound closure would start in the second half of October and could run into November. The two published estimates disagree on its length, so the signs at Chestnut Island will be the most reliable guide. Police and traffic-control staff will be on site during active construction. The manhole site sits in the driveway of a medical office building. That driveway will close while the work is underway and the building will use an alternate entrance. The Town approved the closure unanimously after waiving the usual second reading.
The Post Office Is the Federal Piece
The third change along Route 1 is out of the Town's hands altogether. The Cos Cob Post Office at 152 East Putnam Avenue closed on August 7. A USPS release cited necessary building repairs and moved retail and P.O. box service to the Downtown Greenwich Post Office.
During the week of September 22, State Rep. Steve Meskers wrote to constituents that the branch "is expected to reopen very soon." His office had contacted U.S. Rep. Jim Himes's office, which then reached out to USPS. As of the Greenwich Beacon's September 28 report, no reopening date had been announced. We found no later report confirming that the branch has reopened.
Until it does, USPS lists two alternatives:
- Downtown Greenwich Post Office, 44 Amogerone Crossway. Retail and P.O. boxes. Monday to Friday 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., Saturday 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
- Greenwich Post Office, 29 Valley Drive. Retail service, plus drop shipments Monday to Saturday, 8:15 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Running Errands on Route 1 This Month
Put together, these changes make an ordinary Cos Cob errand run take more planning than usual. Each item below comes from the sources above.
- Mail first, and out of the neighborhood. Until USPS announces a reopening, packages and P.O. box pickups go to 44 Amogerone Crossway. On Saturdays it closes at 12:30 p.m.
- Expect cones east of Chestnut Island on weekdays. Construction runs from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. Once the eastbound closure begins, traffic heading toward Valleywood will be sent up Field Road.
- The one-hour spaces in front of Arcuri's, Randy's Wines and Gelato & Cioccolato are still there for now. Their future depends on a Selectmen vote that has not been scheduled.
- If you need longer than an hour, Parking Services sells day parking at the Cos Cob railroad station lot, listed as Marina - Strickland Road, for $7. You must park in the designated day-parking area.
- Check the street before you leave home. Randy's Wines currently lists no upcoming events. The Greenwich Historical Society is holding its Fall Harvest Festival on October 10 from noon to 3 p.m., with Too Blue performing and a scarecrow-building competition. Its Bill of Rights lecture with Dr. Stacey Close follows on November 12.
The Selectmen will make the parking decision. Any restriping would come from CT DOT. The drainage work runs on DPW's schedule, and USPS will decide when the post office reopens. None of these needs action from residents, but all of them are worth following. The parking vote matters most to the shops between 226 and 236 East Putnam Avenue, because those businesses depend on customers being able to park at that curb.
If you own a home near this stretch of Route 1, decisions about parking, drainage and the shops along it shape the everyday picture buyers see. The Rosato Team tracks these Cos Cob developments as they happen and can explain how they factor into what your home is worth today. Get Your Home Valuation.
