Halstead Avenue Traffic Change Rescinded

After only a few days of enforcement, the law prohibiting left turns from the CVS and Dunkin Donuts parking lots onto Halstead Avenue has been rescinded by the Harrison Town Board.

The sign was up for only "a couple of days" but was taken down after the mayor's office received several complaints from residents upset about the change, according to Harrison Mayor/Supervisor Joan Walsh. She said that she told the Police Chief Anthony Marraccini to remove the sign after deciding it wasn't fair.

The town board officially voted to rescind the law at a meeting last week.

"I'm there every morning and I see the cars that come out of that street and no one really read the sign," said Councilman Pat Vetere. "It was useless, we made a mistake."

The original decision to ban left turns was made after police received complaints of motorists driving left of the double yellow line in the area while making the turn from the lot onto Halstead Avenue. Motorists were driving on the wrong side of the road to merge with traffic going toward Harrison Avenue, creating a risk for people driving in the opposite direction.

It was thought at the time that the problem would be enhanced with the completion of the new CVS adding more traffic to the area. But the signs were taken down after only a few days.

"You can't do it all of a sudden, it's not fair," said Walsh.

Although the board eventually agreed, several members said it was not in the mayor's power to make a change without first consulting the board. This led to some heated discussion as to whether or not the mayor overstepped her power by asking for the sign to be removed.

"One person cannot make a decision to terminate a resolution," said councilwoman Marlane Amelio. "It places the town in a very bad litigious situation if there had been an accident."

The matter was discussed and voted on in executive session, which is not open to the public.

Police were in the area during the short time that the sign was in place and tried to instruct motorists about the change, according to Marraccini. A small number of people were cited for making the left turn during the law's brief existence, but those citations have been withdrawn.

The vote by the board means that left turns onto Halstead Avenue from the lot will be permitted and the resolution has been officially rescinded.