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Stevensville council debates multiple stop-sign conversions to slow traffic near schools; some motions pass, one fails
Summary
The Town Council considered seven requests to replace yield signs with stop signs on Church, Fifth, Sixth and College streets to improve pedestrian safety. Council, aided by the police chief's observations, approved several installations and rejected at least one change.
The Stevensville Town Council debated and voted on a series of traffic-sign changes intended to slow traffic near school routes and apartment areas, approving several stop-sign installations and rejecting at least one proposal.
Police staff and council members said the changes aim to recondition drivers who routinely roll through yield signs on Church Street and adjacent through-streets. The council moved through multiple related agenda items (items a through g) covering intersections at Church with Fifth and Sixth streets and College with Fourth Street.
The council approved at least one motion to install a stop sign at the northbound corner of Church Street and Sixth Street, with the meeting record stating the action "passes 3 0 1." Council discussion and police remarks emphasized safety for students walking to and from school and the high volume of cut-through traffic using Church and College Streets to avoid congestion on Main Street.
Police Chief (unnamed) told the council the town has an unusually high number of yield signs and that many drivers are conditioned to move through them unsafely. "Convenience should never should never trump safety," the chief said while urging the council to consider stop signs at the identified intersections.
At least one motion to replace a yield sign with a stop sign at the southbound corner of Church Street and Fifth Street failed; the roll-call in the record shows Council member Smith voting yes and Council members Brown and Parker voting no, followed by the chair announcing the motion failed (precise tally not fully recorded in the transcript excerpt).
Council members and the police department described the area as heavily used by students: "I've seen as many as 20 to 25" students walking down Fifth, a council member said, and the council noted multiple close calls witnessed during observations. The council also discussed line-of-sight and vegetation issues at some corners and directed that trees be trimmed where signs would be hard to see.
Where motions passed, the council ordered replacement of the yield sign with a stop sign; where motions failed, signage remains unchanged pending possible future review. Several council members urged that the changes be coupled with continued enforcement and community reconditioning rather than treated as a one-off fix.
The council voted on multiple related items in a single block of discussion and did not record a full roll-call for every item in the excerpt; for items where the transcript recorded the vote it is reported above, and for the others the transcript shows motions and seconds but not the final tallies in the excerpt.
