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Stop Sign Requests Declined On Newland, Forest Avenues

Pictured is the intersection of Newland Avenue and Barrett Avenue, which has been of concern to some citizens recently. P-J photo by Sara Holthouse

Two intersections in the city have become a cause for concern for some citizens.

During this week’s City Council work session, Randy Daversa, R-At Large and Public Works Committee chairman, said he was approached by a concerned citizen who lives on Newland Avenue asking if an all-way stop could be made at the intersection of Newland and Barrett avenues.

“When citizens in the public suggest altering anything that has to do with traffic they go to the Manual On Uniform Traffic Control Devices,” Daversa said. “It was suggested not to put up an all way stop sign, and this is the end result, instead installing one extra stop sign on both sides of Barrett Avenue and painting a stop bar for emphasis on the intersection.”

Daversa said in order to install an all-way stop there are studies done by the city and the MUTCD, and criteria to be met. The criteria include crash history, traffic volume, and pedestrian traffic. Daversa said the intersection of Newland and Barrett did not meet the criteria. He added that when the criteria is not met the department does everything they can, and that the plan for this specific intersection has been done in other places and has helped.

Another area of similar concern that has been discussed before is the all-way stop at the intersection of Forest and Prather avenues. Citizens have also expressed concerns about the safety of this intersection.

Pictured is the intersection of Newland Avenue and Barrett Avenue, which has been of concern to some citizens recently. P-J photo by Sara Holthouse

“Of course they did their research and went into the accidents, and again the traffic volume, pedestrian volume and again it did not meet the criteria,” Daversa said. “The traffic division suggestion would be to not put it up and that starting on Forest Avenue and starting and stopping could be dangerous from a minor street to a heavily trafficked street.”

Daversa said this could be especially true for the winter months when on the hill drivers would have to get started again. He said they will put up a sign that says “traffic does not stop” on the Prather side of the intersection, and stop signs on the west-bound and east-bound approaches on Prather.

“On both of these intersections it did not meet the criteria that the MUTCD requires to be met,” Daversa said. “You’ve got to have at least 300 vehicles per hour for any eight hours on the average day and these roads, at least on one side, don’t meet that.”

It was acknowledged that some work has been done on Forest Avenue in regards to signs and crosswalks to help with this situation.

“It was nice that these people were concerned about traffic and pedestrian safety, no doubt about it,” Daversa said. “So I applaud them for that. But it comes down to the MUTCD studies and the study that the city does.”

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