LYNN– Mino’s Roast Beef owner Dionisia Frangias is attempting to keep her customers safe.
On Sunday, she filed a petition to the City to have a guardrail built in front of the sandwich shop, which sits on the corner of Broadway and Euclid Avenue, to protect those inside the building.
“This is a dangerous intersection over here,” Frangias said. “People are sitting here [in the restaurant], me, my employees, it’s a little bit scary.”
The decision to start a petition came from numerous accidents that have occurred in the area of Mino’s. Frangias said that a number of drivers don’t pay attention to their surroundings, with their vehicles coming up onto the low-bearing sidewalk.
Frangias is highly concerned not only for her customers, but also for the students being picked up or dropped off at the bus station right outside of the shop.
“A lot of times, the cars come over here on the sidewalk and it’s crazy,” she said.
Frangias isn’t the first business owner to petition for a guardrail to be built in the area.
Just across the street, ice cream shop Kell’s Kreme petitioned to have a guardrail put in due to the number of motor vehicle accidents that occur in front of the store. Richdale Gas, which is adjacent to Kell’s, petitioned as well.
Frangias wanted to do the same as the other business owners, but wasn’t sure of her options. That was until one of her customers, John Scullin, informed her that she could petition for guardrails to be built, referencing what Kell’s and Richdale had done.
“I said to her, ‘Just take a piece of paper, have people sign it, and try to get a petition going, and maybe the city of Lynn will do something about it,’” said Scullin, who has been a Mino’s customer since 1974. “It’s dangerous, it’s really dangerous.”
Scullin referred to a four-car crash that happened roughly two years ago in the vicinity of Kell’s, and said that the guardrail in front of the ice cream shop went up shortly after.
Like Frangias, Scullin said many drivers at the intersection are reckless when it comes to looking out for pedestrians.
“The kids, they try to cross the street and the people blow the light, don’t even look at the kids. They don’t pay attention to what’s going on,” he said. “So that’s what I said to her, ‘At least have a guardrail there for some kind of a protection.’”
Frangias said that this has been an issue “for a long time.” She hopes that the petition will be enough for the city to implement a guardrail outside her restaurant to keep her workers, customers at Mino’s, and students safe.
“All the time there’s accidents, and to protect ourselves, I think it’s best,” she said.
