Residents urge council to keep stop sign at Crescent Drive; staff to collect speed and count data

Public commenters urged the Manchester City Council on Monday night to leave an existing stop control in place at the Crescent Drive and Winslow intersection and to prioritize pedestrian safety.

Jamie Basy, who identified herself and gave her address, told the council the intersection has ‘‘no accidents’’ in the last decade and said removing the current control would put neighborhood children at risk. ‘‘You can fix a vehicle,’’ Basy said. ‘‘You can’t replace a child.’’ Resident Brian Williams, who said he lives on Crescent Drive, emphasized the lack of sidewalks and asked the council not to remove the eastbound stop sign; he added that a three‑way stop would be acceptable to residents.

City staff told the council that traffic counts at the intersection are below 300 vehicles per day — under the typical threshold used to justify traffic control changes under the uniform traffic code. Staff said the prior stop placement likely dates to early subdivision development and that neighborhood composition has changed, with more young families and children now present.

Rather than change controls immediately, staff proposed a data‑driven approach: place a mobile speed/count sign on Wind Drive just south of the Crescent Drive intersection to capture average speed and directional counts over multiple weeks, and return the findings to the council. Staff also recommended targeted enforcement (ticketing) as an interim measure to slow drivers.

The council directed staff to collect the data and report back before taking formal action on changing or adding stop signs.

Next steps: staff will deploy the traffic counter and speed sign, gather one‑direction counts at a time over successive weeks to capture both directions, and deliver the results to the council for a future decision.