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Commissioners debate rumble strips and other roadside safety measures
Summary
A commissioner proposed trialing rumble strips at dangerous intersections; road commission staff cautioned the evidence for stop-controlled intersections is limited and noted recent reflective-strip and doubled sign changes show encouraging, but early, reductions in crashes.
During questions about local safety improvements, a commissioner argued that rumble strips should be trialed at problem intersections and said, "I'd I'd rather hear rumble strips than an accident." Road commission representative Matt responded that evidence is mixed for rumble strips at stop-controlled intersections and recommended caution because of noise concerns for residents: "I don't think you wanna just go to rumble strips... They're noisy." He pointed to recent measures—doubling some stop-ahead signs and adding reflective strips—that have shown early encouraging reductions in crashes but emphasized the dataset is still short.
Commissioners and staff discussed trade-offs between quieter visual measures and physical treatments, with staff noting some edge- and center-line rumble installations on state highways have demonstrated success but that intersection-specific data remains inconclusive. The road commission said it will continue to monitor crash data and weigh resident feedback before pursuing widespread rumble-strip installation.
