Politics & Government

Stop Signs Could Replace Traffic Signals on Purchase Street

The city will conduct a test of new traffic controls in early August.

To ensure pedestrian safety and slow traffic on Purchase Street, the City of Rye is considering replacing traffic signals at several intersections downtown with stop signs.

The city will begin a test next month to determine the impact of replacing existing traffic signals at the Elm Place, Locust Avenue and Smith street intersections with temporary stops signs and bump-outs that would minimize parking, but increase sight distance for pedestrians and cars trying to cross the intersection.

City Planner Christian Miller outlined the plan for the traffic test at Monday's City Council workshop.

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The test would take place beginning August 9 over a two to three week period, because that is when traffic volume is slowest in the Central Business District, Miller said. The city would disable the existing traffic lights and they would be set to flashing red.

Miller said that the traffic signals downtown are not as effective when it comes to slowing traffic and may actually encourage drivers to speed as they try to avoid a red light.

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During the test period, there will be seven stop signs along Purchase Street, from the Smith Street to Elm Place intersections. Miller said the signs will increase traffic flow and decrease delays caused by drivers trying to make a left turn from Purchase Street onto Smith Street or Locust Avenue.

"We do believe that it improves pedestrian safety," Miller said of the stop signs. "Instead of having people stop sometimes, you would have a full stop every time."

The city will also construct bump-outs, sidewalk extensions that will stop vehicles from parking right at the crosswalk, thereby allowing pedestrians to see incoming traffic and safely cross the street. The bump-outs will be part of the design of the Locust Avenue and Purchase Street intersection and would likely take away three parking spaces on Purchase Street.

The city will also install four pedestrian signal poles during the test phase, which will consume more sidewalk space.

The August test is in line with recommendations issued in the Streetscape plan composed by the Central Business District Task Force, which called for stop signs to slow and control traffic at major intersections downtown.

Some Purchase Street business owners had expressed concern to the city that the test would reduce parking and cause further delays and confusion downtown, but Councilwoman Catherine Parker, who owns Parker's in Rye on Purchase Street, said testing the traffic controls was a necessity.

"Downtown is an area that all of us—no matter what area in Rye we live in—the pedestrian activity is greater here than anywhere," she said. "I think it's critical that we get a good balance between vehicles and pedestrians."  

Some residents who spoke at Monday's workshop, including former school board member Bob Zahm and Jim Amico, a pedestrian safety advocate whose son died in 2006 after being hit by a car, questioned how effective the traffic controls would be.

Amico asked why the city would consider installing stop signs at crosswalks downtown when it had previously stated that doing the same at crosswalks on Midland Avenue would be not increase pedestrian safety in that area.

Mayor Doug French responded by saying that Midland Avenue is getting a series of pedestrian improvements, including bump-outs and speed indicators, so the city would have to research whether a stop sign at a crosswalk there would do any good.

Bob Zahm questioned how effective the traffic test would be, considering it will occur during the slowest trafficked month. He also said he did not understand the logic of putting a stop sign on one side of the intersection, such as on Elm Place and Purchase Street, but not putting a sign in the opposite direction, which would give oncoming traffic in both the north and southbound lanes a reason to stop for pedestrians.

"You continue the bad design that exists today," Zahm said of the plan.

Miller emphasized that the test was just a way for the city and community to measure the impact of certain traffic controls, but the City Council would have to decide what options to implement if the test is proven to be successful.

"It's a test. It's not a decision. It's a test and it may lead to a decision," Miller said. "I think it's not a permanent change but I think it's something worth trying."


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