After resident’s plea, Man­itowoc council adopts ordinances on through intersections and four-way stops

The Manitowoc Common Council unanimously adopted three ordinances to change how through intersections, arterial exceptions and four‑way stops are regulated in the municipal code, a move council members said preserves consistency with an earlier policy and responds to resident concerns about safety.

Resident Kevin Lewis addressed the council during public input, telling members he has lived at 12th and Columbus since 2018 and that "we've had seven accidents I believe at that intersection," urging the city to install stop signs or other controls. "I'm very welcome to this change and... highly anticipate and hope that these signings actually come through," Lewis said.

The ordinances—Document 509 (amending §10.170, regulating through intersections), Document 510 (amending §10.150, arteries/through-traffic exceptions) and Document 511 (amending §10.230, four-way stop)—were presented by the public safety committee and recommended for adoption. Alderman Eric Squitz, who had reservations about the underlying plan in a prior meeting, said he would support the ordinances to keep municipal code and council policy aligned: "I'm going to support the ordinances tonight just because that's what the council's will was for the policy and we can rework the policy if need be in the future," he said.

Several other council members echoed Squitz's view that the ordinance language should match existing policy, and the council voted to adopt each ordinance without recorded opposition. Council members and committee chairs said the ordinances implement the city’s recent traffic-control policy while leaving room for future policy refinements.

Next steps: The ordinances will be incorporated into the municipal code; any future changes to the underlying traffic-control policy would be considered by the council at a later date.