The intersection of Bridge Street and Minnieford Avenue has become a busy corner, with two packed restaurants nearby, and a slew of new row houses constructed near the corner in recent years at what had once been a boat storage yard.
When new homes were built on the corner several years ago, trees were planted along the street. As the trees matured, the one closest to the corner began to obstruct a stop sign on Bridge Street at the intersection.
After much red-tape, the efforts of a concerned community and Klein finally yielded results, with the senator speaking to the Department of Transportation about installing a new sign on Bridge Street indicating a stop sign ahead, and also reaching out to the Parks Department to get part of the tree pruned.
“Maintaining our community is a team effort,” Klein said. “Together with the residents of City Island, the Parks Department, and the DOT, we were able to not only fix a hazardous situation, but actually improve safety in the area. This is a beautiful example of government at its best.”
Paul Nani, who had written to the DOT and Parks, helped bring the matter to the attention of Klein’s office, as did the City Island Civic Association.
“You could see that people were running the stop sign because they couldn’t see it,” Nani noted. “I wrote to DOT, and gave a copy of the letter to Senator Klein’s office at an CICA meeting.”
Nani contacted Parks, but the agency noted that the tree was too large to transplant, and that they were not permitted to cut down a tree in New York City. Parks referred Nani to the DOT.
Nani initial conversations with DOT were not very productive, with the city agency claiming that they couldn’t put a second stop sign on the other side of the intersection on Bridge Street, because it would give the impression of a one-way street.
Now, the DOT has installed a new sign indicating that there is a stop sign ahead as cars approach the intersection coming from City Island Avenue and the City Island Bridge.
“DOT said it would install a ‘stop ahead’ sign by October 31,” Nani stated. “Senator Klein sped up the inspection process with DOT, as they initially stated that it would take a long time, and now the new sign is already installed.”
