There are no stop signs at the intersection of Old Chimney Road and Fireside Drive, and that is exactly how it should stay, said Anthony Bucci. 

The longtime Barrington property owner has been pushing back against a request made by a neighbor to have the town install a stop sign in that area — at Fireside and Old Chimney. There is also a separate request for a stop sign at Copper Kettle Road and Old Chimney. 

Bucci said there is no need for the proposed stop signs and that federal traffic guidelines run counter to installing them at those locations. 

Bucci and a few other residents from the Old Chimney Road neighborhood attended the July 22 Town Council meeting and spoke against the proposed signs. John Lopes, the resident who proposed the stop sign at Fireside and Old Chimney, did not attend the meeting. 

Nick Angert told Council members he has no concerns about how people drive in the neighborhood now, but he is worried that adding stop signs might actually create more reckless driving. Angert also wondered if approving stops signs in these locations would lead to more stop signs being installed all across town. 

Chris Ivanoski also spoke at the Council meeting. He objected to the proposed change, and said people do not speed in the neighborhood and he sees no need for installing any stop signs. 

Bucci said he has never felt that the Fireside and Old Chimney intersection was dangerous. He said he has owned his home on Fireside since 1996 and cannot recall a single accident occurring in all those years — no near-misses, no pedestrians struck by vehicles. 

In a follow-up interview, Bucci said there is just no need to install the stop signs. He said no one uses that neighborhood as a cut-through.

“There would be no reason to — it would be the longest way to get to anywhere,” he said. “It’s ridiculous. It’s not just this town. You look at all cities and towns and they’re crazy with stop signs that don’t belong, and four-way stops. The only place I think that’s appropriate for a four-way stop is up near the high school. Other than that, four-way stop signs don’t make any sense to me.”

Bucci said the US Department of Transportation and Federal Highway Administration issue a Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices. That document includes helpful information about where stop signs and other traffic devices should be used, Bucci said. 

“I discovered that typically the most common intersection is a non-controlled intersection, which is what you have here,” Bucci said. “There are rules of the road that people are assumed to know. People typically are respectful of each other. No one wants to collide and crash their car, so people slow down when they see people, pedestrians or they see cars. Usually they let the one that’s closest to the intersection go first.”

Bucci said the document refers to “engineering judgment” when it comes to traffic.  

“Usually you see a traffic study or some kind of traffic engineer come out and assess the situation. The town did absolutely nothing, so I’m surprised it got to where it is,” he said. 

Currently, the proposed ordinance change is in the middle of its public hearing phase. Council members continued the hearing until their September meeting. 

Bucci said the manual is very clear about when a stop sign is warranted. 

“You need to have two or three accidents within a 12-month period,” Bucci said. “Since I have owned this house I am not aware of a single accident over a 30-year span. Not aware of a single pedestrian strike. No near-misses.”

Assumed stops

Town officials spent some time discussing the intersection of Fireside and Old Chimney during the July 22 Council meeting. 

Barrington Town Manager Phil Hervey said the intersection is an “assumed stop” and that there are many similar intersections throughout town. 

Barrington Police Chief Michael Correia said the original request for the Fireside and Old Chimney stop sign cited speeding in the neighborhood as a reason for the stop sign. Chief Correia said that the request seemed reasonable, but added that he is not a traffic engineer and that traffic management is not his expertise. The Chief said he was going to look at the traffic manual, and wanted to see if it complied with state guidelines.

Chief Correia also asked if officials should consider whether every request for a new stop sign should leads to a traffic study. 

Later in the discussion, Council member Rob Humm proposed that the Council hold a joint public hearing for the two stop sign ordinance requests. He said they are located very close to each other. He also asked if the Council could hear from the complainant. 

Eventually Council members voted 3-1 to keep the hearing open until the September meeting. Braxton Cloutier voted against the motion. 

Weeks after the July Council meeting, Bucci shared his opinion on whether he thought the ordinance would pass and the stop signs would be installed. 

“I just don’t know (what the Council will do),” Bucci said. “I think if they follow the traffic manual there’s not even a close call. If you look at the manual, you wouldn’t even put a yield sign there. Because a yield sign also requires crashes in a certain amount of time. It’s not warranted under any set of circumstances. 

“My biggest fear is that once people start down a certain road, it’s hard for them to admit they were wrong and back-track. That’s the fear. But if they were looking at it new and fresh, I don’t see how they could possibly arrive at a conclusion that they should put a stop sign here.”