New Britain herald., 1916-05-27
PlaiEaVille News GATES ORDERED FOR
 BAD R. R. CROSSING
Utilities Commission Insists on
 Protection Until Midnight
DECISION GIVEN FOR TOWN

Gates Must Be Installed by July 1- Railroad Must Operate Them From O'Clock in the Morning Until Mid night-Frank S. Neal Dying-Briefs. Orders for the installation of gates 1 to be operated at the East Main street railroad crossing from 6 o'clock in the
 morning until midnight were issued
 today by the public utilities commits sion, that body havingEgranted the pe-
 tition of the board of selectmen and
 the Business and Improvement asso-
 ciation Notice of the action of the board was forwarded to First Select
 man Johnson this morning and copy of the decision was delivered to the office of the railroad in New Haven. | The commission directs that the
 gates shall be in position by July 1
 of this year and from June 1 until the improvements are made a f1agman shall be kept at the crossing from 7 o'clock in the morning until midnight. Under the conditions now existing the
 crossing is protected only between the hours of o'clock in the morning and
 / in the evening.
 The commissions decision is a vic tory for the Business and Improve ment association, which has been working for months in an effort to
 have the company voluntarily mini mlze the danger to autOists and drivers of other vehicles from the movement nf tTot i,orr it's policy of economy, the company wouldn't install the gates at the busi- ness mems request, declaring that the traffic was insufficient to warrant the expenditure of the money which the improvement would cost, and an dp- peal had to be made to the state com mission to bring about the change.
 At the hearing held in the capitol some time ago the town representa- tives argued that there is grave dan ger to autoiSts passing over the cross ing, particularly at night after the f1agman has gone off duty and there is urgent need of gates Other plans for giving protection, which had been adopted by the railroad as a result of the agitation of the Business and Inn | prOvement association, had failed to 1 bring about the desired results and | the local men thought gates would l prove the only solution of the prob lem.
 The railroads witnesses admitted that the crossing was dangerous, but that there was not enough traffic to make gates necessary, especially if an extra man would have to be employed to operate them at night.
 In the memorandum filed by the commission, the members of that body expressed the opinion that the Plain vile men had made out good case. Even during the winter months, when l auto traffic is light, the commissioners became convinced that the crossing was inadeQuately protected and that during the summer conditions would be such that there would be strong possibilities of serious accidents be- cause of the railroads negligence. Hence the decision for gates.
 The changes will be greatly appre- ciated, particularly by autoists, who under the existing conditions have to the crossing with great caution and even then have no assur- ance of safety in going over the rails Auto traffic on East Main street at night is extremely heavy and the need of protection at least until midnight has been apparent for a long time.
 Pick Jury List.
 The board of selectmen has com pleted the list of Plainville electors eligible for jury service during the fall and spring terms of the superior court and today copy was sent to the commissioners.
 Those liable to be called on to serve at trails during the year are Dwight B. Barnes, George A. Beckwith, Peter