Committee defers decision on stop signs at 50 Third Street and 30 Fifth Avenue intersection

Kenosha’s Public Safety and Welfare Committee voted Aug. 11 to defer action on installing north–south stop control at the intersection of 50 Third Street and 30 Fifth Avenue until staff can provide additional recommendations and the Kenosha Police Department offers a written or formal recommendation.

Committee members heard testimony from staff and residents who reported multiple collisions at the intersection, including a June incident captured on video by a neighbor. City traffic staff advised the committee that the intersection currently uses yield control on the north–south legs and that engineering warrants for stop signs — which consider factors such as peak-hour traffic counts and reported crashes — were not met.

Tony, the city’s traffic and civil engineer, described the technical review and said traffic volumes were heavier north–south than east–west during peak hour; staff reported peak-hour counts on the two approaches of roughly 16 vehicles in one direction and about 47 in the other. Tony cautioned that stop signs do not always reduce crashes and can create other problems such as increased noise and noncompliance. “When we run these through our analysis, they have to meet warrants,” he said.

A resident who spoke said a car struck a fire hydrant at the intersection on Dec. 26 and that a June 15 crash involving a motorcycle was captured on video but not reported to police because the parties left before officers arrived. The resident also said there have been other collisions in recent years. A different resident said that after stop signs were installed elsewhere in his block a decade ago, the crash pattern changed and that he had since seen no accidents where stop signs were added.

Kenosha Police Department representatives told the committee they had performed a preliminary review and did not see the intersection as a current problem area requiring focused enforcement; they deferred to engineering for the technical determination. One police speaker said, “I haven’t noticed that particular intersection to be a problem area,” and that patrol resources had not been concentrated there.

After discussion about tradeoffs and the limits of reported crash data, a committee member moved to defer the matter to the next meeting to allow staff to collect additional information and for the police department to provide a formal recommendation. The motion was seconded and adopted by voice vote.

Staff noted that unreported crashes can skew the official record and that the committee could revisit alternatives such as changing yield sign orientation or targeted enforcement if further evidence supports a change.