It’s a bit safer to walk from Derby’s Hawthorne Avenue up Chatfield Street toward Osbornedale State Park and the high school football field thanks to new crosswalks and sidewalks installed recently.
Oh, and by the way, the new crosswalk on Hawthorne is actually legal!
More on that later.
The crosswalk on Hawthorne Avenue gives people a place to cross at Talmedge Street (next to Roseland Apizza).
Then, a new sidewalk gives pedestrians safe passage up a curve on Chatfield Street.
A second crosswalk allows people to cross Chatfield near the Red Raider field house at the Leo F. Ryan Sports Complex.
From there, walkers can continue up toward Osbornedale or the high school/middle school campus via an old sidewalk on the east side of Chatfield Street.
Alderman Ron Sill represents Derby’s Second Ward — and he’s constantly walking the neighborhoods around Hawthorne and Park avenues.
He told the Valley Indy some residents of advanced age living in the Stygar Terrace apartments next to Roseland suggested the need for crosswalk at that spot on Hawthorne.
“One of the gentlemen fishes up in Osbornedale, and he told me it’s dangerous to walk up Chatfield on the side of the road,” Sill said.
Sill brought the matter to the Derby Police Commission, whose members have jurisdiction over crosswalks, according to state law.
Derby Police Commission Chairman Thomas DeGennaro and the the commission liked the idea — but you just can’t go throwing crosswalks all over the place.
The state has a slew of regulations that have to be followed in order to make the crosswalk pass muster.
The Hawthorne Avenue crosswalk had a problem — it led pedestrians directly into an overgrown bush on the opposite side of the road.
Although it is not specifically spelled out in state law, in general, crosswalks should not lead pedestrians into overgrown shrubs. You have to give people a place to continue on their journey.
But, if you look around Derby, there are tons of “illegal” crosswalks — painted lines that give a person a pathway across a road, but often into the woods, dirt, or some guy’s yard. And many are about as far from wheelchair accessible as you can get.
Check out Cedric Street heading from Route 34 up toward Hawthorne Avenue — illegal crosswalks everywhere.
Derby Public Works Director Anthony DeFala is aware of Derby’s apparent penchant for “illegal” crosswalks, and he’s been dealing with them by not repainting the white lines.
“I’m hoping they just fade away,” he said.
Regarding the Hawthorne Avenue crosswalk, DeFala acted a bit like a DPW superhero.
DeFala’s department did some poking around — literally — and discovered there was already a sidewalk on Hawthorne and up Chatfield heading toward the football field.
But the sidewalk had been swallowed by years and years of unchecked vegetation. Overgrown bushes swallowed the sidewalk, hiding it from your feet.
So, the Derby DPW trimmed back the wild growth and restored the sidewalk, giving the police commission the ability to OK a legit sidewalk. DeFala’s department funded the project.
“Anthony and the DPW really went above and beyond here. They really deserve some credit,” said DeGennarro, the police commission chairman.
Sill said it’s an example of local government getting something done.
“It’s good for the neighborhood. We got it done,” he said.
