WESTFIELD – The City Council tabled an appropriation requested by Police Chief John Camerota to fund a second crossing guard position at the Abner Gibbs School needed to man a crosswalk installed across West Silver Street shortly after the beginning of the academic year.
Camerota, who is advocating removal of the crosswalk between the school and Day Avenue, requested $7,448 to fund a part-time crossing guard through the end of the academic year because of a potential liability to the city.
That liability was due to the fact that the school principal and teachers were manning the new crosswalk until Camerota assigned a crossing guard.
The council members voted Thursday to table the appropriation to give the Public Works Department time to develop a plan to remove the crosswalk marking.
The councilors questioned how the crosswalk was installed, since it is a short distance from the crosswalk at the intersection of West Silver, Pleasant and South Maple streets.
That crosswalk is both manned by a crossing guard and is equipped with a pedestrian crossing switch to stop traffic while pedestrians cross, mostly school children from Abner Gibbs and the South Middle School.
At-large Councilor David A, Flaherty initially made a motion to reduce the appropriation to $2,000, but withdrew that motion because it is not known how long it will take to remove the crosswalk markings, which were installed with a new technology using thermal plastic which bonds to the asphalt. Paint to obliterate the thermal plastic marking would fade quickly.
Ward 2 Councilor Ralph Figy and Ward 4 Councilor Mary O’Connell and pushed for a resolution to “remove the crosswalk sooner than later” and to adopt a city ordinance which would control the installation of crosswalks across the city.
The Traffic Commission, which is composed of Camerota, Public Works Director Dave Billips, City Engineer Mark Cressotti, Brian Boldini, a retired police sergeant who was the department’s Traffic Bureau supervisor, and Thomas Liptak, who represented the interests of the business community on the commission, voted last Wednesday to begin writing that ordinance.
The Traffic Commission voted to create an ordinance controlling the process of creating of crosswalks that would require a review and recommendation by the Traffic Commission and approval of an ordinance by the City Council.
“Right now there is no ordinance that directs where crosswalks should be located,” Camerota said.
Cressotti said that the current practice is that crosswalks are installed by the Department of Public Works at the directive of the mayor.
“There should be a more thoruough planning process as to the placement of crosswalks,” Cressotti said.
