Stonington ―The Board of Police Commissioners on Thursday discussed safety improvements to Route 1 in the wake of the March 6 hit and run accident that took the life of Gary Piver.

“The police commission made it clear they support anything that improves safety,” said Deputy Chief Todd Olson on Friday.

A new streetlight and narrow bridge signs were among the immediate actions the commission supports to improve what some residents say is a very dangerous section of road.

“I would say that the light and the narrow bridge sign are absolutely in response to the tragedy that occurred there,” Olson said.

Police have said 69-year-old Piver, a lifelong resident and custodian at the high school, was riding his bicycle westbound with traffic on Route 1, when he was struck by a dark gray Toyota SUV traveling west. The SUV fled after hitting Piver in the area of a small commercial building at 210 South Broad St. just west of the high school. Westerly Ambulance took Piver to Westerly Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Police announced in a news release last week that they have identified a person of interest in the crash that killed Piver, adding that progress in the investigation is a result of police finding and seizing the vehicle that struck Piver two days after the incident.

Stonington resident Jessica Morrissey was angry Thursday when she addressed the commission about safety issues along the road. She said she is aware of conversations and meetings going on and has been assured by commission members that they are working on the safety issues, but she does not feel things are moving fast enough and is tired of the bureaucracy that is involved.

“The story has been that it’s not our jurisdiction, it’s the state of Connecticut; our hands are tied,” she said adding that the town should take action immediately, regardless of who owns the road.

“This is April 13th, Gary died, when? March 6,” she asked them. “You’ve got to have signs; you’ve got to have blinking things—anything—interim, interim,” she told them, adding. “We’ve got to save the next life.”

“Certainly, the Police Department and the Board of Police Commissioners are concerned about safety, and certainly, we would be doing anything we can, as quickly as we can. Some people want things to go immediately. That doesn’t happen,” Commission Chairman Robert O’Shaughnessy told Morrissey.

Elizabeth Mitchell, the owner of the three-business commercial building that includes her Handlebar Cafe , submitted a request for a new streetlight at 210 South Broad St. to the First Selectman’s office March 17.

Olson said Mitchell’s request, which was supported by the commission, will be sent back to the First Selectman’s office so it can work with Eversource on the new light.

Olson said discussions regarding safety on Route 1 since the accident have addressed both short- and long-term strategies to improve safety along the road, and the commission will be asking the DOT to add “narrow bridge” signs to alert motorists, cyclists and pedestrians that the culvert over Anguilla Brook is a narrow section of road.

“Signage seemed to be something we can do fairly quickly to possibly avert another tragedy,” he said.

“We’re hoping that, with the support and the Board of Police Commissioners approval, when it gets sent to DOT, they will agree and put that signage up,” Olson added.

The commission also discussed requesting the Department of Transportation perform a safety audit on the state-owned road, though the idea is not a new one.

“For the last several years, there have been discussions about making many of our roads safer for pedestrians and cyclists, so that has been in the works for quite some time,” Olson said.

“I don’t believe an official request to DOT has been made yet,” he said, though he called it “a work in progress.”