WESTFIELD – The City Council rejected a motion of its Legislative & Ordinance Committee to defer action on installation of a stop sign at the intersection of Spruce Street and Western Avenue.
The L&O had requested a vote to remove the stop sign ordinance from its committee after conferring Tuesday with Police Chief John Camerota, chairman of the city’s Traffic Commission, on a stop sign installation request initiated by former Ward 3 Councilor Ann Callahan.
Camerota said that the Traffic Commission agreed that there is a need for a stop sign at the Spruce Street, Western Avenue intersection, but requested that the traffic ordinance be amended in a comprehensive manner as part of the Western Avenue road improvement project.
“Councilor Callahan wanted stop signs on all of the side streets along Western Avenue,” Camerota said. “Spruce Street is a through street (which crosses Western Avenue), so it can be confusing. People are not stopping.”
Last night Ward 4 Councilor Mary O’Connell said that the problem is that the Western Avenue road improvement project is still several years in the future.
“The constituents of that neighborhood wanted that stop sign,” O’Connell said. “The state DOT (Department of Transportation) says the Western Avenue project is not going to happen soon, at the earliest for another four or five years.”
At-large Councilor said the Traffic Commission did send a positive recommendation, earlier this year, to install the Spruce Street stop sign.
The L&O made a motion to remove the issue from committee, stating that it would come back to the City Council and committee as a comprehensive plan for the entire Western Avenue corridor.
At-large Councilor Brian Sullivan, chairman of the L&O, said the stop sign ordinance amendment was not rejected by his committee.
“It got left in committee because we thought that the (Western Avenue Improvement) project was going to happen and that the (Traffic Commission’s) intention is to address the whole corridor,” Sullivan said. “The chief of police did not say don’t do it, all he said is wait.”
O’Connell then requested an amendment to table the motion to remove from committee to allow further verification of the status of the Western Avenue project.
Council President Brent Bean II relinquished his chair to participate in the evolving discussion of the stop sign installation ordinance.
“This sign is a safety issue. People not familiar with the area, are coming out of Spruce Street without stopping, right into Western Avenue,” Bean said. “Clearly it’s needed. The issue we’re discussing is a timeline. This is absolutely necessary.”
Bean then made a motion to approve the stop sign installation.
“This is something that has been in committee since Feb. 6, 2014,” Bean said. “The Traffic Commission makes recommendation, this body makes the laws.
Flaherty made the motion to amend the ordinance to install the stop sign. The first reading of the ordinance amendment was approved on a voice vote.
