Businessman John P. Alevizos Willing to Pay for Walpole Street Traffic Lights-November 7, 1977

King’s Norwood Plaza Developer Offers to Fund $60,000 Signalization and Road Work After Years of State Delays

Businessman John P. Alevizos has been waiting for years to see traffic lights installed on Walpole Street near his King’s Norwood Plaza. Now he thinks he is getting close to winning state approval and he’s willing to pay the bill for the signalization and road work entailed in such an undertaking. The cost, estimated at close to $60,000, will be carried essentially by King’s Department Store and the First National Store, two center tenants, and himself with the “lion’s share.” In addition, he estimates planning studies will cost around $20,000, some of which he expects to pick up in the form of assistance or engineering expertise from state and local authorities.

For Mr. Alevizos, a former general manager of the Atlanta Braves and former Red Sox executive, the planning is shaping up nicely. Preliminary plans seem favorable to the state Department of Public Works and, on that basis, he is going ahead with a three-part study: traffic counts and traffic flow analysis; design plan for lights at Wilson and Walpole Streets along with the shopping center; and an environmental report, including how the lights will affect the area and attention to the rights of cars who do not want to go to the shopping center.

No landtaking will be involved except for a $1 sale of Alevizos land for any extra traffic lanes needed for bypassing the shopping plaza. For a shopping center which yields roughly the same amount in taxes a year as the lights will cost, the price is enormous, Mr. Alevizos said. But the long-term benefit is for the stores and business which, he said, could be better.

“Some people are reluctant to come here,” he said, but added there has been little history of serious accidents. But there is the “psychological factor” to reckon with in people wary of a shopping center which he concedes does not have adequate in-and-out traffic flow. “I don’t look on it (paying for the lights) as an unfair thing,” he said, recognizing what he sees as belt-tightening by the current state administration. But, he said, he does feel it has been unfortunate that the state did not put the lights in earlier. He believes the state’s reluctance had something to do with the town’s refusal to pick up maintenance, including snow removal costs, along this section of state highway (Route 1-A, Walpole Street).

Once installed, the state highway lights would be state-owned. Selectmen have been enthusiastic about getting traffic signals and Town Manager John P. Mogan said last week he was glad to hear Mr. Alevizos was going ahead with the project. He had thought the businessman was unwilling to meet some state requirements — such as environmental assessment, street widening work, and site distance (lights must be visible 700 feet away). The town can offer some limited assistance, such as putting the traffic counters in the area, Mr. Mogan added. Mr. Alevizos said he was discouraged until he found the state, and to some extent the town, would lend a hand in the studies.

According to Robert A. Hartnett, DPW District 6 traffic engineer, the Alevizos project is still very preliminary and far from final approval. The location was not identified in the Topics plan for Norwood, he said, since preliminary information submitted in September was inadequate. Further, Mr. Hartnett said the state never held the town up for maintenance along that stretch of Route 1-A as a condition for installing lights there.

There was never information to indicate that juncture was such a high safety priority to proceed with lights there, he said. Also, the town felt it wanted this section of Walpole Street to remain state highway, he added. It is not unusual for private businessmen to pay for traffic lights, Mr. Hartnett said, and they can do so provided the public “safety and convenience” is met. Mr. Alevizos looks for final review and approval in February and installation in the spring.

Archival Note: This article has been dynamically reconstructed from the original public record print archives of the Patriot Ledger