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Council yields decision on four-way stop
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| by Susan E. Rice |
February 22, 2006 |
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The idea of placing a four-way stop along Second Street in downtown Chetek has been tossed about for years, but concerns over creating new problems in place of old ones stopped city council from voting on the issue during the Tuesday, Feb. 14, meeting of the members.
"I suspect if I asked each one of you tonight if you were against safety, I don't think a single one of you would say yes," began John Kurschner, a Lakeview Drive resident. He then polled each of the council members one by one asking them if they were for or against safety.
"Everybody is for safety. That's obvious," responded third ward alderman Bill Waite.
In the comments following this question, Kurschner strived to build a case for safety being the primary reason why a four-way stop is necessary at the Douglas and Second Street intersection.
"The issue is not convenience but safety," Kurschner continued. He then accused previous city council members of "stonewalling" the issue.
Alderman Dennis Morley re-initiated the issue in December when constituents in his ward asked him to address the problem. At the time, Morley stated that long waits at the intersection by cars approaching from the east and wanting to turn left was one of the complaints he was hearing. Other complaints include the increasing speed of traffic and poor visibility.
The alderman began circulating a petition with the help of Kurschner which garnered 160 signatures. Morley arranged for traffic counters to monitor two of the four approaches to the intersection, and took his findings to the Barron County Highway Committee.
From Friday, Jan. 6, through Tuesday, Jan. 10, traffic counters in the southbound lane of Second Street received 28,214 hits, while the westbound lane of Douglas Street received 8,164 hits. Based on these findings and previous requests from the City of Chetek, the signs were approved on Wednesday, Jan. 11, by the county highway committee.
According to committee member James "Jess" Miller, the committee considers state statutes when determining whether streets receive enough traffic to validate a four-way stop.
"It depends on what type of artery it is," Miller says of the roadway. "You must also factor in public safety." Second Street through Chetek is also County Highway SS, which is why the proposal needs the county's approval. However, the city also has a say in the matter which is why the subject came before the council on Tuesday.
"It doesn't really take a genius to conclude that if over 30,000 people pass through that intersection in the middle of the winter, many thousands more pass through each day in the summer," Kurschner continued. "Everybody crossing that intersection coming from the east and attempting to turn south runs the risk of the complete obstruction of their view."
Kurschner stated that vehicles parked along Hwy. SS, especially trucks and SUVs, either partially or completely obstruct the view of any car approaching the intersection on Douglas from either direction. He added that most vehicles are traveling at or above the posted speed limit which is 25 mph through the city.
"One has to creep out, gun the engine, and hope to make it across without being hit by a car," Kurschner stated. "Pedestrians are also challenged at the intersection."
According to Kurschner, installing the four-way stop would provide pedestrians with a safer place to cross Second Street, it would reduce speeds, and would eliminate the need for the right turn only on Knapp Street at Second.
"Each of you has a sworn duty to act in the interest of safety for the residents and visitors to our community. Here is the opportunity to show your courage and do what is right," Kurschner concluded in the final words of his prepared statement before the council. "If even a single child, elderly person, or driver is spared injury or death because you had the foresight to vote for and not against this matter, each of us can take pleasure in the knowledge that you did the right thing."
Opposition voices their concerns
Immediately following Kurschner's statements, Bob Peterson of First Street responded in opposition.
"I think if we are talking about safety, the worst thing we could do is put a stop sign there," Peterson stated. "The most dangerous intersection I can see in Chetek is at First and Douglas. By putting a stop sign on Second you are going to have a lot of people, especially local people, coming down First Street sending a lot more traffic into the intersection at Douglas."
Peterson added that he regularly walks to Bob's Grill and has not had to wait longer than 40 seconds for an opening in traffic in which the street could be safely crossed. He then questioned the ability of ambulance and fire trucks to pass through the intersection if there is a traffic backup.
In a written statement submitted to the council prior to the meeting and read by Mayor Jerry Whitworth, fire chief Joe Atwood stated that the city would need to take other measures to insure passage of emergency vehicles if a stop sign were installed.
"Steps need to be taken to assure that emergency vehicles will be able to get through the intersection when traffic is stopped or congested via passing lanes or other measures," Atwood wrote. "This intersection on the south end of town is very critical because of response calls on the freeway, Hwy SS, and Cty I."
Present at the council meeting was Ronnie Latcham who is a 17-year member of the fire department. He stated, "Trying to exit this town to the south, especially in the summertime, is a real challenge on main street. I can only imagine the nightmare we would experience if there was a four-way stop there."
Alderman Bill Waite initiated a conversation with interim police chief Lt. Mark Petersen concerning the issue. Petersen, who was unable to attend the council meeting, submitted an e-mail response to Waite who read it to the council.
"I perceive many potential problems one of which is putting the police department at the forefront having to enforce a probably unpopular situation," Petersen began.
The lead police officer then highlighted his concerns over summertime Saturday traffic which is already unusually high due to resort occupancy turnover. Petersen added that there would be a higher risk to pedestrians as well since many will assume that drivers will respect the four-way stop.
"Picture yourself as a tourist coming into town. You are focused on finding a parking spot for the sport shop or bakery, not expecting a stop sign suddenly appearing where one never was on main street," described Petersen.
Kurschner responded that he felt most objection was based on the perception of the four-way stop being an "inconvenience." He gave an example of four-way stops in Cumberland and Bloomer which are located on main thoroughfares.
Sheryl Flor of the engineering firm Short Elliott Hendrickson, Inc., which is contracted to work with the city, addressed this comment. She also referenced several traffic study reports which date back as recently as 2004.
"Speaking from a transportation and engineering background, four-way stops absolutely do work in certain situations," started Flor. She explained that the four-way stop on the main thoroughfare in Cumberland works because there is almost an equal amount of traffic approaching from each direction so the backups are equal.
"The biggest problem with putting a four-way stop there (Douglas and Second) is that your blocks in Chetek are very short," Flor explained. "It works well in Cumberland because they have really long blocks between the stop signs and the next intersection."
Flor added that there is a high probability, especially on high traffic days, that traffic will back up through the next intersection causing a larger back-up than just the four-way stop. This would be highly probable given the amount of traffic exiting the Kwik Trip one block south of the intersection.
As Flor explained to those present, a city needs to have some streets designated to moving traffic through from one end to the other.
"The one street you want people to be able to move through, you don't want to have stop signs on," Flor explained. "Whether that be Second, Third or whatever street it is you decide will be used to move people from one side to the other, you need to let people move."
Once this main route is determined, then a strategy for placing stop signs on auxiliary routes can be developed to move people in a systematic pattern into the surrounding blocks.
"I think that part of the issue is that every stop sign location is kind of mishmash, and left turns and right turns. Nobody has really looked at where the stop signs should actually be," the SEH advisor added.
Waite suggested the option of greater police presence to slow and monitor traffic. Officer Ray Parr, who was present at the meeting, was asked for his thoughts on this option.
"It would be difficult to do right now when you're as short-staffed as we are now. The one officer that works during the days is trying to cover the school zones, the high traffic areas that kids take to and from school. It is hard to be more than one place at a time," Parr replied, who noted that removing parking space to increase visibility would be another option.
The loss of parking has long been an issue with downtown businesses. Chetek's narrow roads prevent the improvement of sight lines and the addition of turn lanes without eliminating parking.
Dan Knapp, director of public works, stated that he thinks parking will be lost regardless if a four-way stop is installed because of the need for turn lanes to allow emergency vehicles to pass.
Morley added another alternative to reducing traffic on Second Street by suggesting that Third Street be made into a truck route only. "Like the City of Stanley did when they put in the ethanol plant. If you get caught with a truck off the truck route, you are in trouble," he explained.
Betsy Casper of B and B Bar & Grill questioned how her business would receive deliveries since it is not located near Third Street. Larry Olson stated that Third Street would be difficult to navigate by truckers due to its width, and Waite added that residents may take objection to having truck traveling down a residential street.
Council members respond
"I would say foremost and most importantly would be the quick response of the ambulance service and the fire trucks," stated Waite. "I can see a huge problem with them getting through that intersection."
The mayor questioned how many accidents have occurred at the intersection. Alderman Don Janota stated that there are accidents in Chetek that people are unaware of. A search of the police department data base would yield some of the information required to determine the number of accidents which have occurred on Second Street.
"What I'm looking at is this. If there were six or seven accidents at that intersection, I'd say we have a problem," added alderman Cliff Bronstad. "But there haven't been any accidents."
Bronstad continued to make the case that traffic and traffic problems are all over town and not isolated to a single intersection. Kurschner responded, "I am talking about an intersection with a high amount of traffic. If there is an accident and you vote against it, you can better believe that this will all be part of the record."
Bronstad immediately responded accusing Kurschner of trying to strong-arm a decision from the council.
"I've heard the arguments against, and I've made the arguments for, I would not be opposed to finding an alternative that addressed the issues of safety, but to do nothing is certainly irresponsible," Kurschner stated.
"When Mr. Kurschner first starting talking, he talked as though prior councils refused to look at this question. That is not correct at all," stated city attorney Randi Osberg who indicated that prior councils have tried to address the situation on numerous occasions. "Until recently the county has insisted that the road go through and that there not be stop signs."
Osberg stated that until now, the city has not had a voice in the matter, and he is pleased that the city is able to explore these options and to make their own decision.
"County commission refused to explore the possibility of a four-way stop at Knapp and Second with the argument that any time you change traffic flow - whether it be a stop or a turn, a light or speed - that it increased danger," Osberg added.
Bronstad believes more police presence would be instrumental in reducing the speed of drivers on Second Street. Waite added that speed and a lack of respect for pedestrians crossing the street are the two factors he feels most contribute to the danger.
"I've seen cars weave around a pedestrian who is already in a crosswalk," stated Waite. "But the police can't be everywhere, all the time."
Flor informed the council that grant money was available to study the issue of pedestrian and bicycle safety.
"Given the fact that the city has a long history of tackling this issue and the studies to back it up, I believe we are in a good position to be eligible for this grant," stated Flor. The Transportation Enhancement grant will reimburse the city for up to 80 percent of project application costs, if approved.
"The biggest concern when we polled the public was pedestrian safety," stated Flor, who offered to meet with council members and interested parties on the results of the traffic study and the options that the city can explore.
The council determined that further exploration of the issue was required before any action could be taken. A committee will be meeting to discuss the issue. Meetings are open to the public. Contact city hall for more information on future meeting dates.
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©The Chetek Alert 2008
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Don Spencer |
Feb, 25 2006 |
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I fail to see Mr. Kurschner's problem here. When west bound on Douglas you can clearly see the intersection at Douglas and Second st. prior to even entering the Douglas and First St. area. So if you see traffic is backed up why don't you simply take a right or left on First St., then cut over to Second St. in another area? It's quite easy, all you have to do is look. As for East bound traffic on Douglas coming to Second st. you can do the same thing, simply avoid those areas!
As for a four-way stop any place on Second it's only asking for problems, I think the fire and police departments have covered that quite well.
Placing "no left turn" signs at a couple intersections on Second St. might also be an option. One way traffic going off of Second St. might also be something to look at.
Just some thoughts,
Thanks................
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Melissa LeClair |
Feb, 22 2006 |
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It seems to me that the best resolution might be to install pedestrian lights. These are extremely common in cities such as Toronto and Vancouver, and I'm sure US cities use them as well. They are hard to to miss and light up when there are pedestrians in the cross-walk area. This would warn drivers to slow down without affecting flow of traffic with 4-way stops on SS.
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