The Police Commission at its October 11 meeting considered speeding issues at two dangerous intersections — the corner of Nunnawauk and Hitfield Roads and the corner of Brushy Hill and John Beach Roads.

Represented by Nunnawauk Meadows resident Kate Twohy, the residents of Nunnawauk Road expressed concerns about speeding and drivers not obeying stop signs at the intersection with Hitfield, which is blind in both directions thanks to a raised, wooded area between the roads.

Twohy told the commission that she began watching the intersection in August, noting traffic coming up the hill towards the intersection from Wasserman Way.

Signage at the intersection has stop signs at all three approaches to the intersection, and a stop sign ahead sign on the approach along Nunnawauk from the direction of Wasserman Way and Garner Correctional Institute, located on Nunnawauk Road, so drivers have adequate warning and must legally stop at all approaches.

However, Twohy says at times they are not.

“I have seen, several times, cars not slowing, not stopping, and accelerating around the curve,” said Twohy. “What might await them could be a bike rider, a walker, a jogger, and in the case of one woman I warned, a person pushing a baby carriage about 35 feet away from where the cars turn. Cars cannot see a walker until they have turned.”

Twohy asked if the commission could do a number of things to solve the problem, including speed bumps, signs warning to watch for walkers, increased presence of police, and possibly excavating the wooded area at the corner to increase visibility at the approaches.

Nunnawauk resident Cathie Mapin said that the “speed of the traffic has grown and so has the number of pedestrians who enjoy walking on our street, Mile Hill South, and other nearby small roads.”

“Cars go too fast around corners and curves where they cannot be aware of any pedestrians or cyclists until they come too close to those sharing the road space,” said Mapin.

She requested increased police presence at the intersection.

Resident David Steiner said the traffic issue is getting “worse and getting faster.” He said as he’s leaving for work at 5 am, other motorists heading towards the prison will “come down the hill at 60 miles per hour” or come up behind him as he stops at the stop sign and “flash their lights.”

“Getting my mail is dangerous, we need blind driveway signs,” said Steiner.

A Process For That

Commission Chairman Joel Faxon told the Nunnawauk residents that the commission and police department have “processes for traffic calming, signage, and safety enforcement.”

“We can’t eliminate risk or make anything 100% safe but we have tools we can use,” said Faxon.

Police Chief David Kullgren said that after Twohy’s initial complaint five weeks prior, he’s had the department’s traffic unit look into the area.

He said that for recent history, there was an accident on Nunnawauk that was “not related to stop signs” and there have been two complaints about the intersection, one in 2020 and one in 2021. Since Twohy’s complaint, Kullgren has sent officers to the area on nine different occasions, resulting in six traffic stops — five verbal warnings and one infraction.

There is also a request for the Department of Public Works to cut back vegetation, which was performed recently.

As to removing the stone and vegetation, Faxon said it was a “DPW issue” and was “unlikely.”

“They might have to blast,” said Faxon. “There’s serious stone there. They’d have to do road engineering and there would be significant cost.”

Faxon also informed residents that the town can only install signs from an approved, state and federal made list; it can’t create custom signs.

Kullgren said that a review of the signs in the area found they met state and federal regulations. The traffic division would continue to study the area for possible recommendations and the area would be added to the department’s list of targeted enforcement, which includes 15 to 20 other roads.

A new report with recommendations is expected to be presented at either the next commission meeting on November 1 or the meeting following that on December 6.

Later in the meeting, it was also noted that Nunnawauk Meadows owns the corner that Twohy requested have rock removed. Kullgren informed them that Nunnawauk Meadows could do the work if it chose to.

Meanwhile, Nunnawauk residents got a preview of what they might expect as another area of complaint, Brushy Hill and John Beach, has reached that next step. The Brushy Hill and John Beach intersection has been the subject of a very similar complaint to Nunnawauk and Hitfield, that of an intersection with blind corners hampered by a rocky area blocking sight lines.

The commission first considered the issue at its September meeting following a complaint from resident Alison Plante.

Recommendations Noted

According to a report from the traffic division, there were a number of recommendations for possible action. The first would be to take no action — in spite of poor sight lines, accident data shows no accidents in the area of the intersection of Brushy Hill and John Beach.

The second would be for Public Works to come in and remove the rock blocking sight lines — something it is reluctant to do “without a higher directive.” The third is a stop sign at the intersection at Brushy Hill road northbound.

Commissioner Neil Chaudhary noted that the corner has a “landscaped rock wall” at it and didn’t “want to be in the business of messing with people’s property;” however, Kullgren said that corner was, in fact, town property. However, a garden located there may have the resident “feeling ownership of it.”

Kullgren said the town needed to make decisions based on feasibility and practicality, and there was a dollar value attached to projects like that.

“If we do it for [Twohy and Plante], we have to do it for 30 other places in town,” said Kullgren.

Kullgren said that the least intrusive solution would be the stop sign, as well as increased enforcement to educate motorists that the sign is there.

Chaudhary asked if the DPW could still look at the possibility of removing the rock and get an estimate.

Associate Editor Jim Taylor can be reached at jim@thebee.com.