Council Yields to Stop Sign Request

Though the city council agrees that the city has too many stop signs, on Tuesday they approved two more.

Eighty-one residents signed petitions to put stop signs on Vail Avenue at Mathews Avenue. Residents say the intersection is dangerous, with cars speeding down the street.

However, traffic studies report drivers don't speed and three accidents in five years isn't enough to warrant stop signs, according to city staff, which called the stop signs "unwarranted." In three years, the police haven't issued a single speeding ticket on the block.

Councilman Matthew Kilroy represents the district where the proposed stop signs would be installed. He said there has been a proliferation of stop signs in North Redondo, and that's not good.

Drivers rolling through stop signs and sometimes not even slowing down is the result of too many stop signs, he said. Drivers know the stop signs have been put there simply to make them slow down, but instead what happens is drivers accelerate away harder to make up for the lost time.

Residents living near the intersection may want stop signs, but the drivers probably don't, Kilroy said. And they're residents too.

"I wish we could pull out a few. I think we've got way too many stop signs," Kilroy said. "I just don't believe putting a stop sign in when it's not warranted is the right thing to do for the overall safety of the community."

Kilroy said supporting the installation of additional stop signs would be "nuts."

Resident Michael Lopez, the only resident to show up at the council meeting, organized the petition drive for the stop signs. Drivers have a limited view as they enter the intersection, Lopez said, and not all accidents have been reported to the police. 

The council  looked at a map of all the stop signs in North Redondo and were surprised at just how many there were.

There are so many, especially near Vail and Mathews, that drivers expect to see a stop sign on every corner.  When they don't, Kilroy said, it's a "shocker."

Kilroy ended up voting to put in the stop signs as did two other councilmen. Pat Aust abstained. "The thing that's making me lean toward having a stop sign is, it sounds silly, but it's because there are so many," Kilroy said.