Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Traffic Safety topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Committee weighs traffic calming for Meadowbrook; engineers caution four-way stop may not meet state warrants
Summary
Council members and city staff discussed adding a four-way stop at Fenwick/Meadowbrook and other traffic-calming measures; the city engineer and traffic expert advised a traffic study to assess warrants and potential liability for unwarranted stops.
The safety committee debated traffic-calming measures on Meadowbrook Avenue, including installing a multiway stop at Fenwick, but heard from staff that state warrants for a multiway stop may not be met and that an engineering study is the prudent next step.
Council members and residents raised persistent safety concerns on Meadowbrook, where a long uninterrupted stretch and several curves make pedestrian crossings difficult. Several council members urged a relatively low-cost intervention — installing a four‑way stop at Fenwick — to break the long stretch of uninterrupted roadway and improve pedestrian crossing opportunities. Supporters argued a stop there would help residents reach Walter Stinson Park and calm drivers on a corridor used as a cut-through.
Staff guidance and legal caution
Miss Mcabee (city staff) and Mr. Pennington (staff member who referenced the Ohio Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices) cautioned that multiway stops are governed by state warrants, including vehicle-volume thresholds (for example, guidance cited a warrant of roughly 300 vehicles per hour in peak hours and a minimum side-street volume condition) and crash-history criteria (for instance, five or more reported crashes in 12 months that a stop could correct). Mr. Pennington warned that installing an unwarranted stop can create liability exposure if a crash occurs at an undesignated location.
The committee discussed other traffic‑calming alternatives — curb extensions (bulb-outs), radar speed signs (including “stealth” mode to collect data without displaying speed), speed tables, reduced corner radii, and pilot roundabouts — and asked staff to estimate the cost and feasibility of a traffic study and potential pilot features. Chief Rogers noted the department has deployed electronic speed signs and explained staffing constraints for dedicated traffic officers, though he said the department is on a hiring/training track that may allow more focused traffic enforcement in the future.
Next steps
Committee members asked staff to get a cost estimate for a formal traffic study and to return with more robust traffic-count and crash-history data; the item will return to the committee’s agenda once staff provides the study cost and engineering recommendations. Councilmembers emphasized interest in a low-cost pilot (for example, a four-way stop or temporary calming device) while the study proceeds.
Ending
No traffic control device was installed. Staff were directed to obtain a scope and cost estimate for a traffic study and to explore pilot traffic-calming devices for Meadowbrook and intersections such as Fenwick and Charney.
