Police Commission members are reviewing a local man’s concerns about overflow parking, which he says occurs on his street at times when the popular Ferris Acres Creamery, an ice cream stand at 144 Sugar Street (Route 302), becomes crowded with patrons.

The five-member elected Police Commission serves as the local traffic authority, addressing traffic and parking issues affecting local roads.

Brian Donnelly of Longview Heights Road told Police Commission members on April 2, “It seems that we’ve become the overflow (parking) lot for The Creamery.” The Creamery is scheduled to open for the season on April 9. The Creamery’s driveway and Longview Heights Road are almost 700 feet apart.

Mr Donnelly said that at times, some of the patrons of the ice cream stand park along both sides of Longview Heights Road, drop litter there, and make noise while parked in their vehicles. The situation also poses access problems for emergency vehicles that would need to respond to addresses on that street, he said.

The parking problem does not occur every day, but happens on some days, said Mr Donnelly.

“We’ll look at that road,” Police Chief James Viadero answered in response to Mr Donnelly’s complaint. Parking is only allowed on one side of such streets, the chief said.

When vehicles are parked on both sides of the street and there is only space for one lane of traffic to flow on the street, it is not acceptable, Chief Viadero added.

“It just gets bigger and bigger and bigger,” the chief remarked of the ice cream stand’s popularity.

Police Commission Chairman Joel Faxon said the commission has addressed parking problems on nearby Robin Hill Road and Sugar Hill Road stemming from the presence of creamery patrons’ vehicles. Through the posting of “No Parking” signs, the town limits parking to one side of those two streets.

“We get the [parking] issue. We’ll take a look at it,” Mr Faxon told Mr Donnelly.

Chief Viadero said The Creamery’s management has been cooperative when police have raised parking issues stemming from the business’s popularity.

In the past, The Creamery expanded its parking lot to address problems posed by vehicles parking along Sugar Street.

Asked to comment on the parking situation on April 3, Shirley Ferris, an owner of The Creamery, said that when The Creamery experiences crowded conditions and lacks parking, patrons arriving at the site are asked to drive about for a time and then return in the expectation that a parking space would be available.

Toddy Hill Road

In another matter, several Toddy Hill Road area residents attended the April 2 Police Commission session to update the commission on speeding problems in that neighborhood.

Carolyn Sepe of 83 Toddy Hill Road thanked commission members for having police heighten their speeding enforcement along that street, which links Sandy Hook to Botsford.

Ms Sepe asked that police expedite the installation of stationary solar-powered speed display signs to be posted in both directions along the street. Such signs display the speed of approaching motorists as compared to the posted speed limit in the area. The devices flash warning lights when motorists exceed a designated speed.

Judith Matos of 2 Clearview Drive said she is glad that the police’s portable speed display is again parked along Toddy Hill Road. Ms Matos said southbound drivers simply drive too fast, adding that northbound drivers slow down when they see the portable speed display, which faces them, and then speed up after they pass it. Speeding is especially a problem between 3 and 5 pm, she said.

Of controlling speeding motorists in that area, Chief Viadero said, “We’re trying to do the best we can with what we have.” The average travel speed in that area has come down across time, he noted.

“We’re doing what we can...We’re obviously paying attention,” Mr Faxon said.

In another Toddy Hill Road matter, Chief Viadero said that construction work will resume the week of April 8 on the new bridge that will cross a stream linking Toddy Hill Road to Berkshire Road (Route 34).

The wide modern bridge is intended to provide better traffic circulation at and near the congested intersection of Toddy Hill Road and Berkshire Road. The project also will correct the unusual steep geometry of the junction, which has occasionally caused tractor-trailer trucks to get hung up on the pavement while making a right turn from northbound Toddy Hill Road onto eastbound Berkshire Road.