HomeMy WebLinkAboutTSMinutes_2015_03_12BROOKINGS TRAFFIC SAFETY COMMITTEE
City & County Government Center
Thursday, March 12, 2015
12:10 p.m.
The Brookings Traffic Safety Committee held its monthly meeting on Thursday, March 12,
2015, at 12:10pm in the City & County Government Center Suite 230, Room 241.
Members Present: Skip Webster, Jackie Lanning, Carol Rettkowski, Tim Heaton, Gary
Gramm, Becky Schmieding, Shayn Damm, Tony Sonnenburg, Gregg Jorgenson, John
Howard, and James Weiss.
Members Absent: Jeff Miller, Pete Kirchhevel, and Brian Lueders.
Others Present:
Call to Order: Howard called the meeting to order. Schmieding / Weiss moved to approve
the amended minutes from the January 2015 meeting. All present voted aye.
Additions to Agenda: None
Old Business:
Update on intersection of 8th Street South and Parkway Boulevard
Lanning stated she visited with her engineering colleagues on advice for the traffic issues at
this intersection. She passed out some pictures of different options that are being used in
Sioux Falls, where they used break away posts to delineate the center turn lanes. She also
presented a rough draft of a pavement marking plan that could be used to block off the 8th
Street South center turn lane west of the Parkway Boulevard intersection. She stated that
Sioux Falls uses bollards about 5 feet apart on top of a small curb. Jorgenson asked if the
center turn lane needs to be closed in or if it could be just one row of bollards with merge
arrows and signage. Lanning thinks one row of bollards may be good and might be better for
the street department. Howard asked how long the bollards would stay up. Lanning stated the
City would monitor the bollards and see if they should be left up year-round. The City is also
going to conduct a traffic study at Christine Avenue and 8th Street South to see if the
intersection meets the warrants for a traffic signal. A traffic signal at that location might
create better gaps and traffic flow. All present thought the bollards were a good idea. Lanning
will talk with the City Manager about implementation.
New Business:
Discussion on Stop Signs at 17th Avenue South and 24th Street South:
Larson received a letter from a concerned citizen that lives in this area. There currently are
stop signs on 24th Street South and the citizen is requesting the stop signs be removed and
have yield signs installed instead. Lanning reviewed the City ordinance with the committee
and the ordinance states when a city designates and describes a through street, it shall be
the duty of the city manager or designee to place and maintain a stop sign, on each and
every street intersecting such through street. 17th Avenue South is listed as a through street
in the City Ordinance so stop signs have been placed at all of the streets that intersect 17th
Avenue South. In the past, the City has either installed a stop sign at an intersection, or the
traffic uses the rule of yielding to the right. Gramm stated removing a stop sign isn’t going to
make the intersection safer and may not slow traffic down. Schmieding commented visibility
is good and there is not much traffic in the area. She questioned why it should be a
controlled intersection since 24th Street South is a dead end street. Jorgenson stated if the
stop sign wasn’t there, cars won’t stop and people out walking may think the cars are going to
stop and they don’t. Lanning stated she recommended to the planning commission that there
should be a second way out of this development for traffic. Schmieding asked if we can
conduct a traffic study and see if it warrants a yield sign. Lanning will talk to her engineering
consultants and see if they have done a down grade from a stop sign to a yield sign.
Member Reports:
Gramm stated he thought the principal of Camelot School said they would put a crossing
guard at the intersection of 15th Street South and 17th Avenue South if 4-way stop signs were
installed and he was questioning why the wasn’t a crossing guard at this intersection.
Lanning will follow up with the principal to find out more information.
The next meeting will be April 9, 2015. Meeting adjourned.
Submitted by: Chris Larson