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4-Way Stop Sign Mania

For years The Chicago Tribune had driver's-advocate column that asked questions and when necessary took on the nameless, faceless bureaucrats that make some, erm, interesting decisions when it comes to traffic engineering (or lack thereof).  I don't know if the column still exists but I do recall one specific column on 4-way stop signs.

The constant creep of suburban development once again threatened to overwhelm an already lagging infrastructure.  Motorists had no choice but to seek alternate routes as the arterial roads were often gridlocked.  Horrified bedroom communities responded by planting 4-way stop signs at every possible intersection.

The Tribune questioned this practice and found that Illinois state law laid out specific requirements for the establishment of a 4-way stop versus a 2-way stop.  Most important was that the intersection must see a certain amount of traffic at peak time or within a certain time frame (1 hour, 24 hours, etc.).  In the end, many of the intersections with 4-way stop signs did not meet the criteria.  The Tribune asked the municipalities to simply comply with the law as written and you can guess the rest:  in almost all cases the municipalities silently ignored the law or refused outright, hiding behind the old "safety" rubric.

Switching states to WV and specifically Morgantown, the Suncrest and Star City areas (e.g., the neighborhoods near Collins Ferry Rd and University Blvd) are absolutely awash in 4-way stop signs on roads that are only lightly traveled on any day of the week.  Yes traffic around WVU is heavy but there's really no advantage to cutting through these neighborhoods as they lie parallel to the arterial roads.  Again it's obvious that ham-fisted state DOH or local authorities have gone overboard in littering the landscape with stop signs either because a disgruntled homeowner requested it once upon a time or simply because - again - they view it as a safety measure (even when it's not).

So West Virginians or anyone else who knows....does state law or the state traffic code have a set of criteria for establishing 4-way stop signs?  If so what are the requirements?   If traffic volume alone is the determining factor then the vast majority of these 4-way stops should be replaced with 2-ways.

splitter
Thursday, December 11, 2008


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