Light removal on 17th- alternate route for rush hour commuters...?

[chacha]

Hi-
I am reaching out to this group as I never can make the meetings since
I travel for work. There are signs posted to remove the stop lights
on 17th street past the lake if you are coming from Sheridan. I think
that is great however, my concern lies in that if stop signs are put
in place of the lights, historically, the commuter traffic in the
mornings and evenings will back up at the stop signs, causing these
folks to divert their path through the side streets, especially, Vrain
street, that runs from 17th to 15th (Colfax). Vrain has no stop
signed from 17th to Colfax. I already see an increase in speeders
down Vrain street as they use this to cut over from 17th. I only see
this problem rising with the replacement of the stop lights to stop
signs, as I haven't heard what other measures are being taken to
prevent commuters rushing through the streets like Vrain, and Wolff.
Tennyson has the school, so I don't project that is the alternative
route for these commuters.... Does anyone have thoughts to this? the
neighborhood between Sheridan and Tennyson, 17th and Colfax is very
family orientated, with many of the locals walking and playing in the
streets, pets get loose, etc...

Thanks for your time!

[Chad Reischl]

Although I'm not a traffic engineer, I'm pretty sure that if the city
is studying the removal of the stop light then they must not feel
there is enough traffic to warrant the stop light. If there isn't
enough traffic for a stop light then I can't see why a stop sign would
back up traffic any more than the light would. I use 14th st. all the
time (where there are numerous stop signs along the corridor) and I've
never seen traffic back up there. I'm pretty sure that 17th certainly
has more volume than 14th, so I can't guarantee that traffic wouldn't
back up there, but I don't get the sense that it would be a huge
problem.

As to your issue with the side streets, there are many traffic calming
measures that could be applied, (speed bumps, speed tables,
roundabouts, neckdowns, narrowing the street, etc.) but I'm quite
aware that there's really little funding in the city budget for those
sorts of measures. Perhaps you could get a stop sign on 16th and
Vrain, but I've read that stop signs don't tend to slow traffic as
people tend to make up for the time lost in the stop by speeding up to
the maximum speeds (or beyond) between stops. The best advice I could
offer is to park cars on both sides of the street so there is the
perception of a narrower street. Wide streets devoid of cars are a
magnet for speeding, narrowing the streets with parked cars would tend
to slow traffic.

I'm not sure I've solved any of your concerns, but I hope this helps.

Thanks,

Chad Reischl

[Chad Reischl]

Public Works is having a public meeting on the traffic light removal
study on March 15, at 6PM at Lake Middle School if you're interested
in attending.

Chad Reischl