Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Transportation topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Traffic study finds stop-sign warrants unmet at Concord Drive–Thunder Gulch; board asks for more enforcement and data
Summary
Engineering staff told Montgomery’s board on Aug. 11 that Concord Drive and Thunder Gulch Road do not meet standard warrants for an all-way stop after a seven-day traffic and pedestrian count.
Village engineering staff presented a seven-day traffic study of the four-way Concord Drive–Thunder Gulch Road intersection and told the Village Board it does not meet MUTCD stop-sign warrants.
Engineer Dan Ott reported the study ran June 12–19 and recorded an average 1,800 vehicles per day, 13 trucks per day and about 108 pedestrians per day at the intersection. The AM peak hour was 9:30–10:30 a.m. (105 units) and the PM peak 4:45–5:45 p.m. (160 units). The police department reported two crashes at the intersection in the past five years; the crash count did not meet the threshold for a stop-sign warrant.
Ott said sight distance was adequate and that the study did not meet the crash, volume or pedestrian warrants required to install an all-way stop. "At this time, staff did not feel the warrants are met to require a stop sign at the intersection," Ott told the board.
Trustees expressed safety concerns. Several members said speeding on Concord and frequent pedestrian crossings — especially to reach the park on Concord — create a sense of risk. Trustee Geier said she did not want the board to be in a position later to explain why a stop sign was not installed if someone were hurt; other trustees warned that installing a stop sign where warrants are not met can itself create safety and legal issues when drivers do not expect it.
The board did not order an all-way stop. Instead members asked staff and police to pursue additional near-term actions: deploy the village’s speed-trailer and other counting equipment to gather speed and day-by-day data, run additional counts if needed (trustees requested a breakdown to check whether a holiday weekend skewed pedestrian totals), and coordinate occasional enforcement by officers. The board asked staff to return with updated data and any recommended measures.
President Brawley and trustees said they want to follow objective engineering criteria but also to remain responsive to resident safety concerns; staff said they will revisit the intersection if pedestrian or vehicle counts change substantially or if the park’s second phase proceeds.
The board did not take immediate regulatory action after the presentation.
