Side street neighbors complain of Riverdale business traffic

Date: 12/14/2022

WEST SPRINGFIELD — Town officials are trying to reduce cut-through traffic on side streets between Elm and Riverdale streets, but there’s a limit to what they can ban.

The Town Council on Dec. 5 agreed to a ban on trucks heavier than 2½ tons on Larone Avenue, which had been requested by residents Raymond and Susan Deslauriers.

Michael Bertera, speaking for Bertera Auto Group, which owns several nearby properties, said he was “not personally aware of any issues” and invited neighbors to contact him directly. He said he was worried that a ban could affect core operations, such as the delivery of cars on carrier trucks, or even the ability of landscapers to get to their property.

“It’s a commercial zoned area,” he pointed out.

Town Engineer Connor Knightly said local deliveries and local commercial traffic are exempted from the ban, as are town-owned vehicles and buses. The state allows heavy vehicle bans as a way of keeping through traffic on main roads.

But according to the text of the request sent to the Town Council, the Deslauriers had asked for “all trailer trucks banned from the street” specifically because of car carriers, which they say block the street “three to four times a week, for hours,” and in some cases “parked for several days.”

Town Councilor Daniel O’Brien said the Traffic and Safety Committee is also discussing resident complaints about commercial traffic on nearby Eldridge Avenue.

Susan Budzynkiewicz, who said she lived in one of two houses on Eldridge Avenue, said even though the street was converted to one-way traffic to discourage cut-through trips, “people still go back and forth [at] 100 mph,” and businesses on the street receive deliveries at odd hours such as 2 a.m.

“These car dealerships … they’re showing nothing, [not] any consideration to us,” she said.

One option to address concerns on Eldridge Avenue, said O’Brien, would be to make it a dead-end street only accessible from Elm Street.