AgdaPkt 2007-09-24 - Laserfiche WebLink

Browse Search

6.4C Page 1 REPORT To the Honorable Mayor and City Council From the City Manager September 24,2007 SUBJECT Installation of Stop Signs on Hopkins Avenue at Allerton Street RECOMMENDATION Approve, by resolution, the installation of stop signs on Hopkins Avenue at the intersection with Allerton Street. BACKGROUND On August 21, 2007, residents of Hopkins Avenue and Allerton Street submitted a petition to the City to install stop signs on Hopkins Avenue at Allerton Street. Neither street is currently controlled (no stop signs) at this intersection. A total of 18 residents representing 11 properties within a block of the subject intersection, including all four properties on the corners, signed the petition. A letter was sent on August 24, 2007 to 187 property owners and area residents requesting additional input by September 10. As of that date, staff received one comment supporting the additional stop signs and one comment opposed. Attachment 1 shows the area surveyed and provides copies of responses received by staff. The intersection of Hopkins Avenue and Allerton Street has a reasonably good safety record. From the beginning of 2002 through the end of July, 2007, Police records show two property damage accidents at that intersection. Although this intersection does not meet State or City adopted criteria for stop signs, there are circumstances such that the Council could reasonably make a finding to install stop signs on Hopkins Avenue at Allerton Street. These circumstances include: . It is possible that the reported accidents and the many near-misses reported by neighbors result from drivers on both streets not realizing that traffic on the cross street does not stop, and failing to behave as is their obligation under the Vehicle Code at an uncontrolled intersection. . The intersection is within 300 feet of both Orion Elementary School and Mezes Park, and is likely crossed by school-aged children walking to and from the school and park. . Because the traffic volume on this portion of Hopkins Avenue is relatively low, the stop signs will not inconvenience large numbers of drivers, and the noise resulting from stopped vehicles will not be as noticeable as at intersections on busier streets. . Residents of all four corner properties at the intersection, who are most subject to the additional noise and emissions associated with vehicle braking and acceleration at stop signs, signed the requesting petition. . The stop signs are not likely to cause a measurable diversion of traffic to neighboring local streets, because the volume on this portion of Hopkins Avenue is relatively low, and the street connections and stop-control pattern of the surrounding roadway network do not seem conducive to such diversion.