Baker and Ciarrocca Debate Crosswalks

Resident Jim Baker's second week of asking the Town Council questions about thermoplastic sidewalks was met by the accusation that he was being political and repeating himself.

When Baker started asking questions of the Council regarding the current thermoplastic project, Councilman Mark Ciarrocca, the chairman of the Council's public safety committee, started to answer the questions before Baker finished and accused Baker of being political in his questioning. When Baker said he was not being political, Ciarrocca said that he believed this since the election is less than a month away and Baker asked similar questions during last week's workshop meeting.

"I'm tired of being up here and being told it is a political problem, it is a citizen problem," Baker said.

At one point the two attempted to talk over each other to stress their point with Baker requesting that he be allowed to ask his question and Ciarrocca saying he had answered the questions last week. Baker is a frequent user of the public comments section at Council meetings to bring up one point or another.

Baker's questions on Tuesday evening centered on the town's plan for installing new thermoplastic sidewalks. The 2009 capital budget includes a line item for upgrading the crosswalks from regular paint to thermoplastic. Ciarrocca said last week that the thermoplastic crosswalks will last longer than the painted ones and are easier to see from a distance.

Baker asked Ciarrocca why he had said the town will be placing thermoplastic sidewalks at every intersection in town when some were done last year and not this year. Ciarrocca said that the ones that have been done before will not need to be redone and others will be upgraded to the thermoplastic model.

"When we finish, our intention is that every crosswalk in town will be thermoplastic," Ciarrocca said.

There are approximately 487 crosswalks in town with 305 to be done this year. Slightly over 100 have been upgraded to date.

Baker also brought up several crosswalks that he believes should be redone in thermoplastic. These include the one at Prospect Street and East Broad Street and the one at Quimby Street and Elm Street. Baker said that both are faded and hard to see and noted that a pedestrian was hit by a car last week while crossing Elm at the intersection with Baker.

Town Engineer Kris McAloon said crosswalks in the dowtnown will likely have the thermoplastic machine come down either this week or next with the work being done early in the morning or late morning. This is being done to minimize the disruption in the congested parts of the day.

Baker also proposed placing a crosswalk at the intersection of Chestnut and East Broad Streets. Ciarrocca said his committee will look into this.

Baker also reiterated his concerns about being called political when he questions the Council.

"It is outrageous that other citizens come up here and are not criticized for making a political statement," he said. "When I come here I make positive suggestions to change things."