'Save the Ville' Effort Under Way to Stop Traffic Plan (Poll)

A crowd of people, most with deep roots in Unionville, gathered at Parson’s Hardware Sunday afternoon to begin an effort to stop the New Britain Avenue relocation plan.

Residents and business owners assembled to pass out signs saying 'Save the Ville' and stayed the afternoon to show support for the movement. They drew in passersby, showing them a large map of proposed changes and explaining what they say would be devestating effects of a plan they don't think would solve Unionville's immense traffic problem.

The group formed a few days earlier after the to support onto Burnham Avenue a little ways up the hill. The Unionville Traffic Committee, made up of Unionville business owners, residents and officials, recommended the plan, saying the additional distance between the New Britain Avenue intersection and the bridge would allow traffic to flow freely along South Main Street and unclog all of Unionville's intersections. The plan would require several businesses and residences be purchased by the state and knocked down and the committee said there was little opposition to the plan.

But at the meeting, about a dozen residents spoke against the plan, including a few of the business owners who would be affected.

After the close vote, they got together to form Save the Ville and challenge the decision. Guided by the Town Charter, the group is working to get 10 percent of town voters or 1,700 signatures within 20 days of the Nov. 15 vote.

Sunday afternoon, supporters took to the streets with copies of the petitions and returned with line after line of names. A half-hour after assembling, the group had given out 30 signs.

The group is reluctantly organized by Stephanie Smith, who lives on Wall Street. The sense, she said, is that Unionville is a small, tight-knit community and it's worth fighting for.

"They're going to try to rip it apart," Smith said.

They have a number of concerns with the plan.

First, many question whether it will work. After a few minutes talking to the group, dozens of points about this entrance, that street, gettting up the hill or stopping on it come up as barriers to the plan's success.

Second, they don't believe it will happen fairly. Members of the group point to the Parsons Cheverolet dealership the state forced from the corner of Route 4 for a traffic project. The plan is now stalled and Parson's went out of business not long after moving. In addition, some worry any compensation from the state will not be adequate for businesses and families to find new homes.

"We look at what they did to the Chevy dealrship — they destroyed it. It still sitts there. And I look at the pile of rubble on the north side of the river and I think that’s what Pete’s package store () is going to look like," Smith said.

Third, they don't believe it's fair for the businesses to be relocated.

"I was willing to sacrifice them moving New Britain Avenue closer to my home," Smith said. "But not them tearing up all these businesses and homes.... If I lived somewhere else I’d say 'yeah try this' but I know all these people and I don’t think it’s going to work." 

They're particularly concerned that people, including the Town Council, was led to believe that people in the area were accepting of the plan.

"I started to believe them," Smith said. "But I talked to people that  never said they were okay with it and never got notified."

Some young people, including Smith's high-school daughter Paige Vuoto have gotten involved with the effort. They were holding voter registration at Parson's Sunday afternoon, too.

You can find the group on Facebook at Save The Ville.