Medford residents: New stop signs not working

There’s no good answer.

That was the general conclusion of the Medford City Council, after another attempt at reducing speeding through a residential neighborhood led instead to more traffic violations.

The city recently installed stop signs on Sixth Street Southeast at its intersection with Woodland Trail, creating a four-way stop.

The move came after residents complained that drivers were not obeying the 25-mph speed limit, which had already been reduced from the original 30 mph limit.

While some neighbors – and Mayor Danny Thomas – suggested portable speed bumps as a solution, council members rejected that idea in a wide-ranging discussion at their July 25 meeting.

Other suggestions included limiting street parking; ultimately, they decided on the new stop signs.

Todd Borwege, who lives near the intersection, said they aren’t working.

“I’ve got three and a half-plus hours of that intersection on videotape, if you guys ever want to see it, all condensed down to about 20 minutes,” he told council members at the Aug. 25 meeting.

“It comes down to enforcement,” Borwege said. “It’s not being enforced. It wasn’t getting enforced at 30 (mph), it wasn’t getting enforced at 25. Now we’ve got a stop sign they can run, and that’s not getting enforced. Where does the city draw the line?”

In July, the issue of enforcement was addressed.

It means additional Steele County Sheriff’s deputies in town – a temporary deterrent, at best.

“I’ve already expressed this concern to council before,” City Administrator Elizabeth Jackson said at the time. “We have to be very careful with how many times we call the sheriff’s office for the same thing, because they’ve already proven they give us twice as many hours as we contract for. If we keep pushing that, you’re going to see charges for law enforcement fees go up” from the current $100,000 a year.

Thomas has seen the stop sign violations for himself; councilors Mark Heaser and Nick Sorensen have, as well.

“I sat up there for an hour,” Sorensen said, “and I saw nothing but roll-throughs. It’s unfortunate – only a few people actually stopped.”

Borwege asked if the council had done any research before deciding on the stop signs; it did not.

“Any of you people talk to the immediate people that live on that intersection, to see how their lives are being impacted?” he asked, after describing the loud acceleration that happens as drivers pull away from the signs.

Still, Borwege said, “there’s a lot of people up there that don’t give a shit, because they’re running the stop sign.”

Fire Chief Craig Helgeson also lives near the intersection; as a former deputy sheriff, he offered additional insight.

“Enforcing speed on that road with radar is going to be really tough, because it’s up and down,” he said, referring to the hilly area and line-of-sight required for adequate radar readings. “They’re going to see (law enforcement), so they’re not going to speed when the deputies are there.”

Helgeson said he agreed with lowering the speed limit to 25 mph, but didn’t agree with having speed bumps, “and I don’t agree with the stop signs. They just … people roll through it.”

While sympathetic, council members said they hadn’t heard concerns from other people.

“I’ve heard nothing but good things, from people up there, besides you, Todd,” Thomas said. “I’m just being honest with you. That’s what I’ve heard. I’m not saying we can’t change anything or do anything different; I’m looking for what’s best for everybody.”

Sixth Street is also “six or eight feet too narrow,” Helgeson said. “If you get vehicles (parked) on each side, you can only drive one vehicle down the middle of the road. It’s just a bad set-up, all the way around.”

Thomas said the first step was to hold a meeting with the city engineer, public works employees, neighborhood residents and council members.

“Craig and Todd, you guys that live up there – please come and give your input,” he said, “and we’ll make a decision from there.”

A meeting date has not been set.