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‘Tradition matters. Public safety also matters’: Newton mayor defends removal of Italian flag traffic lines
Mayor Ruthanne Fuller of Newton said the double yellow lines were implemented to support “public safety."
Many Newton community members were outraged after Italian flag-colored traffic stripes on Adams Street were repainted to a standard double yellow overnight on June 26.
The tricolor line, which had embellished Adams Street since 1935, according to the Saint Mary of Carmen Society, signifies Italian-American pride and encapsulates “religious tradition” and “community identity,” the group said.
Ahead of the city’s 90th Annual Italian-American Festival, or Festa, which begins Thursday, Mayor Ruthanne Fuller released an explanation in a newsletter Monday evening about the repainting. She cited safety concerns amidst heavy traffic and consistent car crashes.
Fuller said the decision to repaint the line wasn’t made lightly, and was a thoughtful consideration made over “many months.”
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“This part of Newton is steeped in history and Italian cultural pride,” she said. “The tricolor center line has been an important and meaningful tradition.”
Fuller explained that the reason for implementing the double yellow lines was “public safety,” saying Adams Street is the “City’s #1 priority for traffic calming.”
She pointed to data within the Massachusetts Department of Transportation’s Crash Data Portal, saying that Adams Street’s crash rate is “more than twice as high as the average” for other similar roads in that part of Massachusetts.
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“While a double yellow center line will not prevent all such crashes in the future, the double yellow center line is a federally required measure that is designed to address these conflicts,” Fuller said.
Adding double yellow center lines to Adams Street is federally mandated, Fuller added, as Newton follows the United States Federal Highway Administration’s standards.
Due to Adams Street’s high traffic volume and width, it hits the benchmark to have a double yellow center line, the mayor wrote.
“This section of Adams Street is notable as the only busy road without double yellow center lines in this section of Newton,” she said.
Fuller further referenced specific sections of the regulations that warn that failure to adhere to standards may threaten future federal funding.
She said the yellow lines were painted overnight, which is “customary” for long line painting in Newton.
Newton’s Italian American community decried the lines’ elimination, citing a lack of communication, including with city councilors.
The Saint Mary of Carmen Society said June 28 that the act was a “painful reminder that our traditions can be erased without warning or respect.”
The society also garnered more than 2,200 signatures as of Monday night on a petition to reinstate the Italian-themed paint to the street.
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Fuller acknowledged in the email that her and her team “missed the mark” in communicating with festival leaders, residents, and city councilors.
She said she met with festival leaders for “many months and explained the need for double yellow center lines.”
However, the Saint Mary of Carmen Society, which organizes the festival, said “at no point were (they) formally informed” that the lines would be removed.
Fran Yerardi from the Saint Mary of Carmen Society wrote in an email to Boston.com that Festa organizers do not have “time to rebut every spin the mayor puts on her story.”
Yerardi wrote that Fuller “erased a vibrant thriving village center under the dark of night” by replacing the traffic stripes.
“Everyone knows you can’t trust what politicians say, their actions speak louder than words,” Yerardi wrote. “Newton advertises itself to be a welcoming city, ask yourself if you find the mayors actions to be welcoming ?”
The mayor’s office did not respond to a request for further comment.
In the newsletter, Fuller said that before the lines were repainted, the City granted permission to festival volunteers to repaint the tricolors, “just moved over by 12” or 18”” next to the yellow lines before the festival begins.
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Though the Adams Street traffic stripes may not be red, green, and white for the upcoming festival, Newton will still be filled with Italian pride and decor.
Fuller wrote that the City is allowing some painting on the streets to continue, including permitting specific streets to have colored long lines, certain crosswalks to have green, white, and red lines, and the barrel of fire hydrants to be painted in those same colors.
“Let’s have both the reflective yellow safety pavement markings and lift up Nonantum’s Italian roots with green, white and red lines next to them,” she said. “Traditions matter. Public safety also matters.”
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