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Council weighs three-month trial to disable two Sioux City traffic signals amid safety and parking concerns
Summary
City engineer proposed a three-month trial to turn off signals at Tenth & Douglas and Morningside & Peters after a warrant study found neither met signal criteria; council debated pedestrian safety, school and parish impacts, parking loss and visibility before agreeing to monitor the intersections during a trial period.
Sioux City officials at a council meeting considered a proposed trial period to disable two traffic signals — one at Tenth Street and Douglas Street and the other at Morningside Avenue and Peters — after a city traffic study found neither intersection met signal warrants.
Gordon, the city engineer, told the council that a 2023 study showed the intersections did not meet volume or pedestrian-signal warrants and recommended a three-month trial beginning the last week of July and running into October to observe conditions with schools back in session. "I'm recommending that we start... like the last week of July and go to the October," he said.
The recommendation prompted sustained public comment and council discussion focused on pedestrian safety and parking. John Flannery, with Bishop Heelan Catholic Schools and representing Cathedral of the Epiphany, said the school and parish opposed removal at Tenth and Douglas. "We are adamantly opposed to removal of the, stoplight at Tenth And Douglas," Flannery said, noting "125 students at the Cathedral Dual Language Academy" who cross at that corner and asserting the cathedral parish serves "over 4,000 families" and sees about "3,500 people" on weekend Masses.
Resident Ronald W. Smith raised visibility concerns at Morningside and Peters, citing bushes and a bus shelter that, he said, obstruct sight lines coming from the east. Gordon said the city's memo recommended relocating the bus stop and trimming vegetation to improve sight lines at both locations.
Council members discussed alternatives to full signal removal, including pedestrian-activated flashing beacons, curb bump-outs to shorten crossings and maintaining demand-activated signals. Gordon said pedestrian counts done for both locations "didn't even come close" to justifying a pedestrian signal; he added that even if counts doubled or tripled from the 2023 measurements, they still would not meet the signal warrant.
Some council members expressed reluctance to proceed at Tenth and Douglas because of the large number of young students who cross there; one member cited the age of pedestrians and the size of the parish congregation as reasons for caution. The engineer noted that the trial period would occur in summer when student numbers are lower and that staff would monitor conditions once school resumed.
The engineer also said some infrastructure changes would be required if the trial proceeded, including trimming or removing vegetation and relocating bus stops, and that signal poles might be salvaged if in good condition. He did not provide a firm cost estimate for any additional measures or for re-evaluating pedestrian counts, saying staff could arrange short-term counters or interns to gather fall data.
The council debated whether to separate the two intersections for individual decisions; the city engineer and several council members indicated the Peters/Morningside signal was in poorer condition and might be treated differently. The motion on the table involved initiating the proposed three-month trial (shutdown) of the signals with monitoring and returning to council if adverse conditions were observed.
The transcript shows extended discussion and recorded votes during the meeting, but the final roll-call outcome for the motion is not unambiguously stated in the portions of the transcript provided. The council agreed that, if safety concerns arose during the trial, the signals could be restored or other measures implemented.
Background on policy: the engineer described the recommendation as based on standard "warrants" used to evaluate whether a signal is justified (traffic volumes, peak-hour vehicular and pedestrian counts). Council members and community speakers repeatedly emphasized pedestrian safety and the importance of re-checking counts once school is in session.
The city said it would relocate bus stops and trim vegetation where needed as part of implementing any trial and would monitor pedestrian/collision data during the trial period. Additional traffic-calming measures (bump-outs, pedestrian-activated beacons) were discussed as possible mitigations if the trial showed safety problems.
