Feds Say No More Yield Signs

Recent changes to federal regulations have required the city of Concord to change yield signs to full stop signs on two steep streets on the western side of the city, according to engineering officials.

The Federal Highway Administration’s 2009 Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices now requires that stop signs and yield signs not be used on the opposite sides of an intersection. Engineering officials recently discussed the issue at a Traffic Operations Committee meeting and decided that it was important to comply with the law, according to officials.

In order to comply with the federal regulations, the General Services Department replaced the yield signs at two intersections: The Auburn, Penacook, and Little Pond Road intersection and the Auburn and Forest streets intersection.

“The city uses stop signs just about universally to indicate to drivers who has the right-of-way at unsignalized intersections,” Traffic Engineer Robert Mack stated in an email. “These two intersections were exceptions that formerly mixed stop and yield controls at the intersection proper."

Yield signs can still be used at other intersections, like a right-turn movement separated by a delta island while stop signs are used for the main intersection, according to Mack.

The change, however, has led to difficult navigation to oncoming traffic due to the steep slopes of both streets.

Last week, while taking pictures pictures of the new stop sign and observing the Friday afternoon traffic for about 10 minutes, two vehicles stalled on the hill at the intersection of Auburn, Penacook, and Little Pond Road while attempting to re-start after coming to a complete stop. The approach to both that intersection and the Auburn and Forest streets intersection is about 25 to 30 feet, from the base of the intersection to the top, according to terrain maps of the area.