Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, November 10, 1993 TAG: 9311100053
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
All the residents on Stanley Avenue in South Roanoke wanted were two more stop signs to slow speeders.
Simple enough. They would ask the city to put up the signs. And the city would do it. Right?
Wrong. It's not that easy.
And that's why some City Council members got angry when the Stanley Avenue residents appealed to them for help.
Council has told City Manager Bob Herbert to give immediate attention to the stop signs.
Council members stopped short of ordering him to install the signs, but they made it clear what they want. "If I were you, I would put the signs up immediately. These things shouldn't come to council," Councilman James Harvey said.
Residents' desire for four-way stop signs in many neighborhoods, such as the ones requested at 26th Street and Stanley, often clash with the city's policy for handling such requests.
And council members get caught in a political bind between their constituents and the city staff.
The city uses national traffic guidelines - a Federal Highway Administration publication - called the "Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices" - to determine whether four-way stop signs are warranted. .
Traffic Engineer Bob Bengtson said the city receives about one request a week for four-way stop signs. But few are approved, he said, because they don't meet the national standards.
Bengtson said he could not recommend four-way signs at 26th and Stanley because the traffic volume is too low - 556 vehicles daily, compared with 2,000 to 3,000 vehicles at other intersections with four-way stop signs - and there are no visibility problems.
In addition, there are no records of bad accidents at 26th and Stanley and there is no traffic congestion, he said.
But that is little consolation for the neighborhood residents who fear for the safety of their children.
They say cars travel at excessive speeds on 26th Street, endangering children who often cross the street when they are playing. The speed limit is 25 mph.
There are stop signs on Stanley Avenue but not on 26th Street.
Neil McNally, a neighborhood spokesman, said the residents have been trying unsuccessfully for two years to get signs on 26th Street.
"We have received condescending letters and [are] treated like we don't know what we are doing," McNally said. The group came to council as a last resort, he said.
Bengtson said the national standards discourage the use of four-way signs to control speeding, partly because they don't work, and they can create other problems.
"If you have too many stop signs, motorists lose respect for them. They are no longer meaningful," he said. "Soon they don't pay attention to them."
The national standards recommend police enforcement as the most appropriate way to control speeding. George Snead, director of public safety, said police have used radar at times in the vicinity of 26th and Stanley.
Bengtson cited another reason for not putting up four-way stop signs.
To continue receiving $6 million a year in state highway funds, the city must adhere to the national standards. If the city installs unnecessary stop signs or other traffic control devices, Bengtson said, it could lose the maintenance money for that section of a street or highway.
Although the state rarely, if ever, reduces funds for a locality for failing to comply with the standards, it's possible, he said.
The city also could be sued if it installs unnecessary stop signs or other traffic control devices that might cause an accident, he said.
Most of Roanoke's four-way stop signs, particularly in the Old Southwest neighborhood, were installed years ago before the city began scrutinizing the requests more closely, Bengtson said.
by CNB