Swampscott residents angered over street change

SWAMPSCOTT – The town removed a Do Not Enter sign at the corner of Worcester Avenue and Plymouth Avenue recently, which generated a lot of heated discussion at the Board of Selectmen meeting Wednesday evening.The sign affected approximately 125 feet of road but a handful of residents were angry the town removed the sign that turned their one-way street into a two-way street.One resident said removing the sign was an arbitrary decision on the part of the town and area residents did not have an opportunity to offer their opinion.Department of Public Works Director Gino Cresta said it was not an arbitrary decision and the police researched the laws and traffic flow extensively before recommending the sign be removed.Another resident said the children in the area are used to having it one-way and are frequently in the street because there are not any sidewalks in the area.”It’s not fair,” she said. “Someone is going to get hurt.”David Castellarin, who is on the traffic study committee, said removal of the sign was discussed at a public meeting and the committee voted to remove it based on a recommendation made by the police department.Castellarin said the police department has been looking at the flow of traffic and signs in town. He said Lt. Gary Lord recommended it be taken down because there is no record of that street ever being designated as one-way and the sign hindered the flow of traffic.Town Administrator Andrew Maylor agreed with Castellarin that there are numerous signs in town that are not enforceable because the law on the books does not reflect the posted signs including some speed limit signs. Maylor said he can identify 50 locations in town that are similar to that intersection yet the streets are not one-way. He said it’s his opinion it’s a quality of life issue for those residents who live on the street.Maylor said there is no question 50 percent of the traffic signs in towns were posted without due process and placed for the benefit of a particular group of residents.”Those can be the most difficult to remove,” he said.He cautioned the Board of Selectmen that catering to a particular group is akin to going down a slippery slope.Selectman Marc Paster was not at the meeting but the other selectmen voted unanimously to instruct the Department of Public Works to put the Do Not Enter sign back at that intersection.