[POLL] Stop Signs: Safety Aid Or Menace?

There are new stop signs on Church Street at Rector Street just three days after they were approved by the Town Council. There were already stop signs on Rector Street at that intersection.

"Some people have driven right through it today, but I'm sure they'll get used to it," said Kim Balkcom via email Thursday. "It should also alleviate some of the chaos on Farmers Market days."

Balkcom should know. She lives on Rector at Church.

"I have been talking about it for years, but Mike Kiernan, who lives on Church and has three little ones, was instrumental in making it actually happen," she said. Kiernan lives down the street from Balkcom and happens to be on the Town Council.

While changing a two-way stop to a four-way stop may seem like a no-brainer, it's not without its critics.

Carl Hoyer, former Town Councilor, thinks too many stop signs in town are "indiscriminately installed."

Hoyer lives on Middle Road at Ridgefield Drive, where there is a stop sign and, according to Hoyer, loads of people drive right through it.

When he was on the Town Council, he said, "I was told, ‘We can’t remove stop signs, people are used to them.'”

But for Councilman Kiernan, it comes down to safety. "We have people coming up Church Street bombing up that street," he said at the meeting June 23. "Is it going to slow some of them down? I hope so."

It's not about issuing traffic tickets, he said. "We’re looking to slow people down."

Do stop signs make a difference? Vote in the poll below and leave a Comment.