AGENDA# 4f
TO: Mayor and Town Council
FROM: W. Calvin Horton, Town Manager
SUBJECT: Request for Stop Sign Installations at the Intersection of Dixie Drive/Collums Road/Indian Trail/Seminole Drive
DATE: September 11, 2000
The following report is in response to the attached petition requesting the installation of stop Signs on Dixie Drive and Seminole Drive at their intersection with Collums Road and Indian Trail. Please see the attached map.
The Manager recommends the installation of these stop signs.
We received the attached petition from residents of the North Forest Hills neighborhood requesting that additional stop signs be installed to create an “all-stop” condition at the above referenced intersection.
Dixie Drive and Collums Road function as collector streets through the North Forest Hills neighborhood, and they include moderate grades and curves. Dixie Drive and Seminole Drive are designated as “through” streets, and vehicles may continue through this intersection without being required to stop. Collums Road and Indian Trail are designated as “stop” streets, and vehicles are required to stop at the existing stop signs before continuing through the subject intersection.
Town staff visited the site and evaluated conditions on several occasions at different times of day. We noted significant numbers of pedestrians, including many adolescents, passing through this intersection in all directions, particularly before and after school buses stop nearby, as noted in the petition. We also observed traffic which appeared to be using these streets as a detour around the Piney Mountain Road washout.
In 1989, the Town Council adopted a policy for the placement of stop signs and assignment of speed limits. A copy of the policy is attached. The policy was adopted to provide guidance and consistency in responding to requests for the installation of stop signs and the assignment of speed limits on public streets.
The policy includes a variety of conditions and situations that could warrant the installation of stop signs and/or changes in speed limits. It also includes situations in which stop sign installations or speed limit changes would not be recommended. These criteria are based on a combination of generally accepted traffic engineering principals and our collective observations of stop sign installations in Chapel Hill and other communities in North Carolina. Please refer to the attached policy document for more specific information.
We considered the stop sign request at the Dixie Drive/Collums Road/Indian Trail/Seminole Drive intersection in terms of the criteria outlined in our policy, and we think that the installation of additional stop signs would be appropriate due to the lack of sidewalks, the nearby school bus stops, and the significant volume of pedestrians noted passing through this intersection. We also acknowledge the proximity of a public park which attracts pedestrians to this area. If the additional stop signs are authorized by the Council, we would include “stop ahead” warning signs and painted stop bars on all approaches to the intersection. We have also directed the Public Works Department to trim vegetation within the right-of-way which obscures the intersection sight lines.
The petitioners also noted a problem with vehicles exceeding the posted 25 mph speed limit. We have already implemented intensive speed limit enforcement efforts in this neighborhood. Additionally, special “Slow Down” signs have been installed at six locations to further call drivers’ attention to observing the speed limit.
That the Council adopt the attached ordinance that would authorize placement of stop signs on Dixie Drive and Seminole Drive at their intersection with Collums Road and Indian Trail.
1. Vicinity Map (p. 4).
2. Petition (p. 5)
3. Stop sign and assignment of speed limit policy (p. 12)
AN ORDINANCE AMENDING CHAPTER 21 OF THE TOWN CODE OF ORDINANCES REGARDING STOP REGULATIONS (2000-09-11/0-6)
BE IT ORDAINED by the Council of the Town of Chapel Hill as follows:
Section 1. Section 21-13(a) of the Town Code of Ordinances, “Right-of-way and stop regulations.” is hereby amended by deleting the following:
“Through Streets Stop Streets
Dixie DriveDixie DriveCollums Road
Seminole Drive
Indian TrailCollums Road
Seminole
DriveIndian
Trail
Section 2. Section 21-13(c) of the Town Code of Ordinances, “Right-of-way and stop regulations.” is hereby amended by inserting the following, in appropriate alphabetical order:
“Intersection(s)
Dixie Drive/Collums Road/Seminole Drive/Indian Trail
Section 3. This ordinance shall become effective October 1, 2000.
This is the 11th day of September, 2000.