Mill St. & State Ave. in Tiverton, RI

This post is to make it clear to all residents of Tiverton, RI and the surrounding area that The Bourne Mill, managed by Peabody Properties is a private residential property.

The signs in the pictures for this article are easy to see and cannot be missed if one should decide to drive down State Ave. via Shove St.

State Ave. was not extended as a public road for any local area residents, the single car length lane at the very end of the street was build by Peabody Properties as per the request of the Town of Tiverton, RI sighting safety concerns. The town stated that there needed to be three points of entry for Emergency vehicles: Police, Fire and Ambulance.

It was extended and paved only to appease the towns safety request and not to become a "shortcut" to get onto Fish Road. The Tiverton police have been aware of this safety concern for at least the past six months, yet little has been done to fix the matter of constant traffic trespassing through a residential area that is clearly marked as not for the general public to drive through. Speed bumps were also installed bye The Bourne Mill to try and deter the traffic, to no success.

The completion of the Tiverton Casino a year ago has quadrupled the flow of cars into this location, but no one is willing to do what is needed to keep the people of The Bourne Mill safe from the reckless drivers who put the elderly residents and children who live on the grounds in danger by continuously ignoring the posted warning signs.

When some residents DO try to redirect traffic away from State Ave. they are often met with the same people they the warned about the site going onto Mill St. instead, an area which has a designated bus stop at the end of it for the local children to go to school in town. Further pointing out that the current town council, fire department and police need to take this matter a little more seriously as it is putting peoples children at risk of being hit by speeding motorists who are breaking the law by using The Bourne Mill as a means to an end.

Though there has finally been some momentum in getting everyone together to talk over what can be done about deterring traffic into the private residential area, very little is currently being done at the moment to put a stop to those who are using State Ave. as a through street when it is still clearly marked as a "Dead End" when initially entering the off of Shove Street.

Even the few local business on State Ave. have noted a dangerous increase in traffic flow, and have nearly gotten into accidents when leaving their establishments to go to and from their work place. There is also mention of the strange mess at the very bottom of State Ave. where suspicious barrels, an array of spare tires and a broken fence gate with piles of junk behind it... yet the police and town have done nothing of note to address the concerns of local residents over that eye sore of an establishment.

Any Bourne Mill resident that calls the local police dispatch is met with complete inaction, due to citing "private property" when it is well known to every resident in the area that State Ave. itself is not owned by Peabody Properties. However the fire lane they paid to have built due to the towns request is of course private and only meant for emergency use.

Thankfully things are coming together slowly, as trying to get all the parties needed to fix this issue is not a simple task since there will be obvious disagreements as to who should be paying for what to try and enact a more permanent solution to this daily problem that Bourne Mill residents are forced to quietly endure.

This article was written only to let local Tiverton and Little Compton residents know about the legality about cutting through The Bourne Mill residential area, and to politely ask that they refrain from thinking of the area as a public road owned by the town.

Any home owner or apartment resident can understand that having a constant flow of unwanted traffic over what could be called your back yard and private residence would cause some degree of anger and frustration. Especially when local police prefer to refuse to do anything other than make excuses as to why the aren't trying to deter those who are choosing to ignore the posted signs and warnings put up by The Bourne Mill management.

For now at least just one single police car at the end of State Ave. just before the start of the emergency vehicle lane would be the first step in keeping those who are not visitors or residents to the property from continuously breaking the law. There are over 100 apartments at The Bourne Mill, and with that amount of people in such a small area an accident is going to happen at some point if nothing is done now to prevent people from making the mistake of entering the private residential area.

The only thing being asked, is for local authorities to step up and work together to solve this problem now before it can get out of hand. The Tiverton Casino has only been open for one year, and if nothing is done to stop both RI residents and MA residents from the behavior of using the area in whatever way they want, something is going to occur that cannot be undone.

I only ask that this matter be taken seriously since both the Town of Tiverton, Tiverton Police and The Tiverton Fire Department need to look at this as their problem too. The emergency lane was put in just for them, so please help in keeping it safe for those who live in this town.