Has anyone ever gotten a new stop sign installed?

[DetroitHabitater]

I live on a street that is unmarked 'thus 35mph' but vehicles fly down it. It is located on a route between two USPS depots and USPS semitrucks [[without trailers) must be going at least 45mph. There is pothole and when they hit it it sounds like an explosion. There are plenty of kids on this street and nobody seems to heeding that.

There is an un-signed intersection halfway down this street between two lights and if there was a stop sign there it would really help the situation for everyone.

I'm assuming stop signs are governed by wayne county? Has anybody ever gotten one installed? I know people in other parts of the county that have lost that fight being told that there weren't enough accidents on those corners.

It's also a bus route so i'm assuming that might make it more difficult if it messed with route times.

i know I might be dreaming the impossible.

any insight would be greatly appreciated.

-dh

[ronaldj]

Couple of suggestions:

If you have a neighborhood association, start there.

Detroit Public Works Department, Traffic Engineering. From an old directory, I have their adress as 1301 E. Warren. Phone: 313 833 7294. Phone may not be in service.

Detroit Police Department, Community Relations Officer for your precinct/region.

Not to beat East English Village to death but as part of the Next Detroit program, the area was provided with walk-the-street on-foot police beat patrols. Generally teams of two officers. Whether or not this had anything to do with it, most of the stop signs were reconfigured and addional stop signs were added.

When we lived in Grosse Pointe Park we spent a lot of time on the front porch and front yard. 25 MPH was kind of strictly enforced on the neighborhood streets. But a generally ineffective but emotionally satisfying tactic was to yell "Slow down" at the scofflaw speeders.

Keep us informed regarding your results. Protect the kids.

[Bearinabox]

Detroit Public Works Department, Traffic Engineering. From an old directory, I have their adress as 1301 E. Warren. Phone: 313 833 7294. Phone may not be in service.

1301 E. Warren is DDOT, and has been for over 30 years. Your "old directory" must be pretty fuckin' old.

These days they keep the Traffic Engineering Division at 2633 Michigan Avenue.

[Radioron]

Are you looking for a stop sign to control the right of way at the intersection, or to control the speed?

[RO_Resident]

What street is this?

Most likely it is on a city-owned street, so you will have to contact Detroit DPW listed above.

The city will determine if there is a need for the stop sign based on traffic, speeds, type of road, etc. If the warrant determines there is a need for a stop sign, the city will install one.

But--to manage your expectations--there is generally a movement to restrict the number of stop signs, especially in residential areas. They are not put in to restrict vehicle speeds. Why? If a stop sign is put in where one isn't needed, drivers tend to ignore them. Or, they will make up for 'lost time' by accelerating faster and braking later. Neither situation improves the safety of pedestrians.

[dtowncitylover]

One of my neighbors on the side road behind me, as I live on a busy street, has a "DRIVE 25 There's Children" sign, maybe try and find one of those. I know it isn't a stop sign, but it will send a message out there to be careful.

[Jimaz]

But--to manage your expectations--there is generally a movement to restrict the number of stop signs, especially in residential areas. They are not put in to restrict vehicle speeds. Why? If a stop sign is put in where one isn't needed, drivers tend to ignore them. Or, they will make up for 'lost time' by accelerating faster and braking later. Neither situation improves the safety of pedestrians.

A related 2008 article from Christian Science Monitor: Are towns really safer without traffic lights?

[Retroit]

You could try to make the pothole deeper.

[BVos]

In our neighborhood we have a similar situation. To slow cars down we park our cars on the street at the curb on both sides of the street and stagger them to essentially make an S-curve shape to the road and narrow it. This visually and physically narrows the road and makes drivers slow down since they don't feel comfortable driving fast any more. The best would be to get the City to narrow the street, but that ain't gonna happen, so try the DIY street narrowing. And getting a stop sign ain't gonna happen either. The bureaucracy alone will kill any chances of that.

[professorscott]

dh,

I have got stop signs installed before, and I also have got stop signs removed where they didn't make sense. Post here what intersection you are concerned with. Do you think it ought to be a four-way stop or just a stop sign on the minor road?

I would be happy to go look at the intersection with one of our civil engineers and then, if conditions warrant, make the proper request to either city or county road engineers [[depending on who has jurisdiction over the particular road).

Prof. Scott

[daddeeo]

I've noticed more stop signs are replacing many traffic lights in Detroit.
I'm sure this is a cost savings but it seems rather dangerous. Many folks just blow through stop signs.
Has anyone else noticed this?