City Council Petition to Be Introduced on Allen Street Stop Sign

Ald. Emmanuel Sanchez (D-AL) is introducing a City Council petition for the city to consider restoring stop signs at the corner of Allen and Carlton Street.

Sanchez’ petition, in the draft as submitted, says, “Please reinstall the stop signs at the corner of Allen St. and Carlton St. as there have been several car accidents and complaints from residents in the neighborhood regarding excessive speeding down Allen Street.”

The petition comes amid strong neighborhood concerns about traffic accidents on Allen Street, including one fatality at a different location on Allen Street.

Neighbors and leadership in the North-Oak Neighborhood Revitalization Zone (NRZ) have been asking for the city to consider bringing back the stop light that was at the corner of Allen and Oak Streets and the stop sign that was at the corner of Allen and Carlton Streets. The city previously decided to remove both the stop sign and stop light.

The corner of Allen and Carlton Streets has reportedly seen several accidents since the removal of the stop sign by the city, including a recent accident on July 18th.

Ald. Sanchez stresses that he has great respect for Police Chief James Wardwell and the process by which the New Britain Police and the Board of Police Commissioners make decisions on the need for traffic controls.

Sanchez says that he is introducing his petition in light of accidents that have been occurring on Allen Street.  He says that in light of this, and neighborhood concerns, there is a need to reassess whether the stop signs should be re-installed at Allen and Carlton.

A City Council petition is procedure in New Britain by which an individual member or more than one member of the Council is empowered to require consideration of action from or a report by a city department or commission. Council members frequently use this process to formally propose that the city take action on a particular concern.

Ald. Sanchez’ petition would be introduced at the August 8, 2018 City Council meeting. A report would be made back to the Council in response to the petition at a future meeting.