City Council moved ahead with a number of traffic measures during its regular meeting Monday night, including authorization of a traffic calming toolkit and final approval to create a four-way, flashing stop sign at West Lake and Madison avenues.
Both measures were presented at the governing body’s regular meeting in May, less than two weeks after a pedestrian was killed trying to cross West Lake and Madison avenues. Several residents came before Council to urge action to address speeding along WesT Lake Avenue. Police Chief John Rodger also briefed City Council on the details of a traffic calming toolkit.
The purpose of the traffic calming toolkit (AR-117-18) is to provide residents and community leaders with information about the city’s traffic calming policy. Traffic calming is the “practice of managing vehicular speeds and/or volumes of traffic using police enforcement, education and/or physical changes to the roadway,” according to the resolution.
The toolkit is “designed to combine continued vigilance and seek improvements along with judicious spending and precedent for traffic calming practices.” It’s designed to highlight common traffic calming measures and explain the protocol used in selecting “the most appropriate measure for each instance.”
The toolkit will be used to determine the method of traffic calming requests as priority by considering the following factors:
- Severity of crash/safety date at the location;
- Frequency of request from community; and,
- Availability of funds for the most appropriate measure.
The evaluation will establish the following levels of status:
- Preliminary measure implemented;
- Data analysis in progress;
- Awaiting funding.
The ordinance (O-8-18) to establish a four-way, flashing stop sign at West Lake and Madison avenues was approved unanimously after public hearing. There was no comment from the public during the hearing but several speakers advocated for taking measures during the regular meeting in May when the ordinance was introduced.
Currently, only traffic on Madison Avenue attempting to cross West Lake Avenue face a stop sign while motorists along Madison Avenue do not. A solar-powered, four-way flashing stop sign will cost about $18,000 compared with $400,000 for a traffic light. Speed humps cost about $9,000 each but must be removed before winter but also, West Lake Avenue has more than 3,000 vehicles a day, which would require approval from the state Department of Transportation.
Since last month’s meeting, members of the public also have suggested that four-way stops be created at other intersections along West Lake, West Inman and Jefferson avenues.