North-Oak neighborhood residents are celebrating the restoration of the stop signs at the corner of Allen and Carlton streets.
“We are proud to announce after a long struggle with the City of New Britain, last night the Board of Police Commissioners voted unanimously to restore the stop sign back on the corner of Carlton & Allen,” said Pablo Rodriguez, Vice President of the North-Oak Neighborhood Revitalization Zone (NRZ).
Numerous people responded online to Rodriguez’ comments, expressing support for the decision to restore the stop signs at the intersection.
Rodriquez said that the plan is to restore the stop sign next week.
Community activists have been advocating for the signs to be reinstalled after having been previously removed. Neighbors have been concerned about accidents on Allen Street, including one fatality.
The corner of Allen and Carlton Streets has reportedly seen several accidents since the removal of the stop sign by the city.
The issue came most recently to the Board of Police Commissioners because of a City Council petition introduced by Ald. Emmanuel Sanchez (D-AL). That petition called for, “reinstallation of stop signs at the intersection of Allen Street and Carlton Street, as there have been several car accidents and complaints from residents in the neighborhood regarding excessive speeding on Allen Street.”
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.
In introducing the petition, Ald. Sanchez stressed 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.
Rodriguez said, “Thank you everyone who was part of making this change.” He added that, “we would like to give special thanks to City Aldermen Emmanuel Sanchez for submitting a petition on the behalf of the residents of the North Oak NRZ, also Yvonne Muniz and Nicole Crawford Rodriguez from the New Britain Board of Education.
Rodriguez said that Muniz and Crawford Rodriguez cited the number of bus stops on Allen Street as reason to support the restoration of the stop signs.
“It’s my pleasure to advocate for the New Britain residents,” Muniz replied online.
“I am excited to see this back … finally,” added Crawford Rodriguez, the School Board President. “It was our pleasure to help. My kids’ bus stop was on Allen Street.”
