By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
The traffic count recently done at Pearl and South Maple streets did not add up to enough to automatically warrant a four-way stop at the intersection. But some neighbors aren’t putting much stock in those results.
“I really want the stop sign. It’s dangerous there,” said Jane Mooney, who lives at 304 Buttonwood Ave. Mooney attended a meeting of the Bowling Green Traffic Commission, Wednesday evening, to repeat her complaint about the intersection.
She read a letter to the commission from her neighbor Dr. Rick Worch, who shared her concerns.
“We have witnessed and heard several accidents,” Worch’s letter stated.
Neighbors have requested a four-way stop, since drivers heading southbound on Maple sometimes can’t see oncoming traffic due to a driveway close to the intersection.
The city has visibility regulations, but those tend to deal with trees. Those regulations don’t cover residents parking in their own driveways.
A recent traffic study did not yield the results that Mooney and Priscilla Stockner, of 309 S. Maple St., had hoped. But they aren’t giving up.
“You have to pull halfway into Pearl Street to see if traffic’s coming,” said Stocker, who has lived near the intersection for 51 years.
“We have tried 40 years to get a stop sign out there,” she said.
Stockner said the number of cars using Pearl is irrelevant. It’s the lack of visibility and speed that are concerning, she said.
“Those cars fly by,” she said.
So the next step, according to Municipal Administrator Lori Tretter, is to hire a traffic engineer to study the intersection. The traffic engineer will look at such factors as the visibility at the intersection, the accident history, and the traffic counts, Tretter said.
“We’re hoping the traffic engineer can give us some options to consider,” she said. “We share citizens’ concerns about safety.”
In other business on Wednesday, the traffic commission agreed that no action should be taken to further restrict parking on Finch Drive in the Quail Hollow subdivision.
A citizen had complained that an S-curve on Finch Drive potentially creates a blind spot for oncoming traffic. The city was asked to consider restricting parking on both sides of the street in that area.
But after members of the traffic commission drove the street several times, it was decided that no changes were needed.
“Visibility is not a problem,” said Police Chief Tony Hetrick, who is also a member of the traffic commission. “You can clearly see oncoming traffic. I did not see a reason to remove parking.”
Fire Chief Bill Moorman, also on the commission, agreed.
“There didn’t seem to be any type of impediment to vision,” he said.
City employee and commission member Rick Beaverson said he drove a snow plow down that section of Finch Drive. “We didn’t see any issues either,” he said.
In other business, the commission:
- Learned that Tretter had met with Ohio Department of Transportation officials about pedestrian safety on South Main Street. ODOT has agreed to work on a pedestrian safety study covering the area from downtown to the southern edge of the city. Improvements to South Main Street are planned for 2024.
- Members decided the stop signs at Waterford Drive and Kildare Lane in Cogan’s Crossing, should not be switched, as requested by a resident there. At the last meeting, Moorman said that it would be “unwise to reverse” the signs, and Hetrick agreed, saying “switching them up is a bad policy.” The stop will remain on Kildare Lane.
- Appointed member Rick Beaverson to be the group’s representative on the city’s sidewalk commission.
