Residents concerned with potential new Brookwood stop signs

Residents have raised concerns about the city adding two new stop signs on Brookwood Road at its intersection with Crosshill Road.

The city had sent a letter to residents who live close to the intersection notifying them of the plan and inviting them to voice their opinions at the July 27 city council meeting. In response, Lorelle Baddley wrote to say that the sign would prevent her and her neighbors from getting out of their driveway in the morning.

“When I pull out in the morning, I am going to have to get the eyes of three people,” Baddley said. “My driveway will be a three way stop. I don’t think the stop signs make it safer for us. I don’t know about others.”

She also noted that her neighbor across the street will be blocked the entire time and that she has only seen one or two fender benders happen there in the 14 years she has lived in the house.

Sean Hannon, who lives near the intersection, said he does not think the stop sign is necessary because you can see the traffic on the other side of the intersection.

Richard Caudle of Skipper Consulting said two driveways would be affected by the stop signs, with short queues backing up in front of them for 20-25 minutes in the morning and 30 minutes after the high school lets out. 

In the council premeeting, Caudle said the area in question is not in the predominant flow of traffic in the morning, but there is enough traffic to form a queue.

“This is a fairly common occurrence,” Caudle said. “The nature of these driveways would not change my recommendation, particularly with the sight distance issue.”

Council member Jack Carl said people will be polite and let the residents out anyway.

Caudle had earlier determined that the sight distance was below minimum requirements for traffic entering the southern intersection of Crosshill Road looking to the right. These stop signs would remedy that issue.

There are currently four stop signs at the northern end of the intersection and three at the southern end.

At the end of the discussion, the council determined that Skipper should take another look at the intersection based on the residents’ feedback. Residents will be notified before the issue comes before the council again.