Resident warns of dangerous driving at South Rock Hill and Baker; staff notes five crashes in five years

Lauren Wright told the commission she has lived on South Rock Hill Road since 2023 and described repeated dangerous driving behavior at the four-way stop at South Rock Hill and Baker Avenue.

"We routinely, every single day, see people going double the speed limit, disregarding stop signs ..." Wright said. She described a recent crash in which a distracted driver struck a truck, ran the stop sign, left the road, tore out the stop sign and landed on the front steps of a nearby house during a morning when children and walkers were nearby.

Staff replied that they had received a complaint and had begun looking into crash history. "I think in the last 5 years, we've had 5 accidents there thereabouts," staff said, and added that a full public-works analysis and traffic counter deployment had not yet been completed. Staff suggested short-term enforcement (police details) as a temporary measure while engineering analysis proceeds.

Commissioners discussed likely crash types (rear-end collisions at four-way stops, visibility issues on crests/downhill approaches) and possible countermeasures including sight-line clearing, "stop ahead" signage, and temporary police enforcement. Several commissioners urged collecting consistent crash data and comparing the location to other segments of South Rock Hill to decide whether physical traffic-calming measures are warranted.

No formal traffic-calming changes were adopted at the meeting; staff said the location is on a to-do list for evaluation and that they would continue correspondence with the resident and pursue measurements as resources allow.