Stop sign petition a no go, say city officials

The Sonoma Traffic Safety Committee is pressing the brakes on a drive by local residents to have stop signs installed at multiple intersections along a heavily trafficked residential street.

Second Street East neighbors made their case at the Traffic Safety Committee’s July 26 meeting, presenting committee officials with a 36-signature petition of support for signage in order to curb excessive speeding along Second Street East, between East Napa and MacArthur streets.

Several east and west crossings along Second Street currently have stop signs, but drivers heading north or south are largely unencumbered by stops – and nearby residents contend drivers use it as a speedy thoroughfare to quickly cut through the residential neighborhood.

On the advice of city Public Works Director Dan Takasugi, the five-member committee voted to direct city staff to consider the situation further, and to return with alternative options for slowing traffic in the area.

According to Takasugi, the committee “did not completely reject” the idea of creating new four-way stops.

Sid Hoover, who has lived on Second Street East for two years, and has been a primary advocate for establishing three new four-way stops along the slender corridor, expressed disappointment at the committee’s decision not to move forward with stop signs at the Patten, France and Chase intersections.

“Our street has become a raceway,” said Hoover, after the meeting, adding that he and his neighbors are now weighing possible strategies for bringing the matter before the City Council. Additionally, Hoover said that he’s consulted an attorney, who’s advised hiring an independent traffic consultant to assess the situation.

“Our cars are being sideswiped all the time by people speeding down Second Street,” said Hoover. “It’s a very narrow street, especially the 500 block, where side mirrors have been torn off of cars parked there, where people are afraid to step out into the street for fear of getting hit.”

According to Hoover, the street – frequently used by students commuting to Sonoma Valley High School – becomes additionally hazardous during commute hours, when it is used by motorists and cyclists to avoid Broadway.

Takasugi, however, said the City’s own investigations have not indicated that the street is sufficiently impacted by speeding cars to justify the negative impacts of installing what he calls “unwarranted” four-way stops.

“The City has performed several stealth speed surveys, both with school in and out of session,” Takasugi said. “All surveys show that vehicle speed is at the appropriate speed limit along Second Street East”

The posted speed limit for that area is 25 mph. According to Takasugi, the City’s research shows that the average speed along that stretch was about 20 mph.

In a September 2015 letter from Police Chief Bret Sackett to Hoover, Sackett described stop signs as, “a tool to address right-of-way conflicts, not speed.” Sackett wrote that the department’s existing accident and citation data is “not sufficient” to establish a need for stop signs along that particular residential corridor.

Takasugi adds that current California vehicle codes carry very specific standards for implementing new traffic-control measures, as detailed in the California Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices. According to the vehicle code, certain criteria – including vehicle speed, accident data and volume of traffic – must be met in order for a new four-way stop to be implemented.

“None of the three intersections meet the warrant criteria,” Takasugi said. “Installing new four-way stop signs would go against well-established state standards and be acting contrary to the state Vehicle Code.”

The Traffic Safety Committee, said Takasugi, was also concerned that too many stop signs in a single area could inadvertently create a larger safety issue, as motorists tend to avoid stopping – instead committing a “rolling stop,” or slow crawl through the intersection – which, combined with pedestrians’ enhanced confidence at crossing there, could lead to injuries.

The City has recently made moves to increase safety in the area by adding “warning” signs at Second and France streets, alerting motorists on France that cross traffic along Second Street is not required to stop.

It is just those kinds of injuries, said Hoover, that he and his neighbors are hoping to avert by forcing drivers to slow down and stop frequently as they progress along Second Street. Hoover added that the Traffic Safety Committee’s commitment to finding alternative methods of slowing traffic are too little, and might be too late.

“Speed bumps and other things are not going to solve the problem,” said Hoover. “You have to have a stop sign. This is a simple public-safety issue. So far, only cars have been damaged. Sooner or later, someone is going to get killed. That’s our concern.”

Email David at david.templeton@sonomanews.com.