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Committee approves parking restriction and new stop signs after debate over safety at 20th & Wells
Summary
The Public Safety & Health Committee approved ordinances to restrict a parking space at Vliet & 50 Eighth and to add or adjust stop signs citywide; Alderman Bauman's request for a four-way stop at 20 Ninth & Wells was approved after debate about crash thresholds and alternative measures.
The committee approved a set of small, local traffic-control ordinances on May 22 and debated a request to install a four-way stop at 20 Ninth and Wells on Milwaukee's near West Side.
Scott Reinbacher of the Department of Public Works presented a proposed parking regulation change that would restrict one parking space at the southwest corner of Vliet and 50 Eighth Street to improve sight lines; Alderman Scott Moore moved passage and the ordinance was ordered without objection.
DPW also proposed a package of traffic-control changes, including all-way stop installations and yield signs at several intersections. Alderman Bergellis moved passage of that ordinance and it was ordered without objection.
A longer discussion focused on a file sponsored by Alderman Michael Baumann seeking an "always stop" four-way stop at 20 Ninth and Wells. Resident Lee Olson, who lives at 2922 West Wells, told the committee she had seen near-misses and cars parked into crosswalks: "I have almost been hit twice by a car there," Olson said. She urged a four-way stop to improve safety.
DPW traffic engineering staff said crash data reviewed under the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD) did not meet the manual's stated warrant for all-way stop signage (the manual generally recommends an all-way stop only after specified crash thresholds are met). DPW recommended alternative steps first: stricter enforcement of no-parking-at-corner rules, additional no-parking signs to improve sight lines, installation of a second stop sign for north- and southbound directions, advisory plaques under stop signs indicating "cross traffic does not stop," and longer-term options such as curb extensions through the city's community-led traffic-calming program.
Alderman Baumann and several colleagues pushed for the four-way stop as an immediate, inexpensive measure. "When vehicles park up to the crosswalks, you have a recipe for disaster," Baumann said, noting heavy local foot traffic and a nearby community building. After debate, Alderman Bergellis moved passage and the committee ordered the change without objection. DPW said it would pursue the parking-sign and signage steps immediately and continue to study longer-term curb-extension work that likely would require design and construction next year.
The committee approved the items by voice without recorded roll-call counts; members repeatedly used "hearing no objection" to adopt the measures and to place other items on file.
