Milford puts up signs near house to stop crashes

MILFORD — City officials started addressing complaints from a Pond Point Road resident whose house was condemned after an SUV knocked it off its foundation in November.

The Department of Public Works recently installed reflectors and other signs at Pond Point and Yale Avenues warning motorists of the sharp curve that contributed to the latest crash, said Chief of Staff Justin Rosen.

“I can’t even begin to imagine what you and your family are going through,” Rosen told owner Paul Clarizio in an email informing him of the changes.

He added he would forward Clarizio’s request for a traffic study of the area to the Milford Police Commission.

The commission will discuss possibly having an engineering study of the road done, among other things, when it meets on Feb. 12, Chairman Richard Smith said this week. The request from Rosen came too late to make the Jan. 8 meeting.

Smith called the signs “a good first step.” They were installed on Dec. 26, public works Director Chris Saley said.

“We are not done with the issue,” Smith said. “We are going to get something more done.”

Clarizio was skeptical of the promises.

“We are not getting any promises from the City of Milford that they are going to do anything that will make our home a safe place to live,” he said. “The current request for a guardrail has been denied.”

He added city officials didn’t do anything in2018 after three cars had hit his property.

“We were hopeful this time after the current accident but now we are not feeling confident that we will receive any help from the city,” he said. “I wish I could be more optimistic.”

The November crash was the first of the incidents to actually hit the house. The house was left at a strange angle and so unstable that firefighters who responded to the 911 call had to escort four family members who were inside out of the building, officials have said.

In the first three crashes, one in 2011 and two in 2018, his family’s vehicles took extensive damage. The latest crash forced the eviction of the Clarizios from their home. They stayed in a hotel for several weeks before renting a home about a block from their house, Clarizio said.

Clarizio, a special education teacher at Fairfield Ludlowe High School, wrote in a letter to Mayor Anthony Giannattasio on Jan. 4 that the commission mishandled his situation when it denied his request for a guardrail.

A traffic study done at that time determined that a guardrail was inadvisable for that area, police spokesperson James Cox said this week. A copy of the report was not available.

A guardrail might seem like a viable answer, but the issue is more complex. State traffic codes would probably prohibit the placement of a guardrail there and the city would have to get an easement from adjoining neighbors to allow its placement, Smith said.

“We may look at redirecting some of the traffic there,” Smith said. “We are not done with the issue but the recommendation is put up reflectors and signs. We are hoping that they were effective and continue to study this.”