NEWS

City begins traffic study on East Southern

Todd Hill
Reporter

BUCYRUS – For two weeks now, the city of Bucyrus has been counting the number of vehicles passing through the intersection of East Southern Avenue and Rogers Street in an effort to determine whether removing the stop signs on East Southern would be prudent.

The numbers are in, but whether they will clarify the situation remains to be seen.

During a meeting of the city’s traffic commission Wednesday, Eunice Collene, administrative assistant for the mayor and service-safety director, reported that within a two-week period 2,752 vehicles traveled on East Southern Avenue while just 367 traveled on Rogers, a ratio of seven to one.

“Just by looking at that, I think the four-way stop should stay,” service-safety director Jeff Wagner said, but Bucyrus Police Chief David Koepke disagreed.

“Actually, the actuarial data suggests the opposite, because for a four-way stop the traffic needs to be equal both ways,” he said, referring to a state requirement.

The issue has been debated in City Hall since February, with many residents in the area asking that the stop signs on East Southern, which have been in place since a bicyclist was struck by a vehicle there in the 1970s, remain where they are.

At that time, there was also an elementary school on Southern, which no longer exists, but school buses still pick up and discharge students at the intersection.

City Council member Bill O’Rourke has said in previous Council meetings that stop signs are not intended to control speed, and has cited traffic studies showing that on streets with several stop signs, motorists will habitually speed up in between them to make up for time lost sitting at the intersections.

Council member John Walker has observed that reckless drivers who fail to stop for a stop sign may not stop for a school bus either, and Koepke has called for the signs’ removal.

But Council president Sis Love and Monica Sack are on the record stating that the stop signs on East Southern shouldn’t come down until and unless the state requires them to, and Wagner has also voiced support for keeping the intersection as is, commenting that Bucyrus is not a big city and that it doesn’t take a long time to get from one end of it to the other.

On Wednesday, the traffic commission decided to count vehicles at East Southern and Rogers for two more weeks before making a decision.

On another proposal, to raise the speed limit on Beal Avenue from 35 mph to 45 mph east of the Norfolk Southern railroad tracks and add a no-passing zone, the commission had no problem reaching a decision.

Collene said the city had received several phone calls and emails on the proposal, first advanced by O’Rourke.

“None of them was in favor of that. They said pushing the speed limit to 45 miles per hour would have people driving 55,” she said.

The commission voted to keep the speed limit on Beal Avenue at 35 mph, without debate.

In other action Wednesday, the commission voted to move three parking spots for police vehicles near the county courthouse from north of the new Crawford Success Center to the west side of North Walnut Street, since contractors working on the center have roped off the parking lot to the north of that building.

Collene said Ohio Highway Patrol troopers recently had to park a block away from the courthouse on the other side of the Chicago, Fort Wayne & Eastern railroad tracks.

“There was some concern with that. It didn’t seem like a good solution to them,” she said.

“I can’t believe two blocks is a killer. If you’re at court you’re at court,” Bucyrus Fire Chief Jay Keller said.

The parking lot to the north of the Crawford Success Center has been promised to the North Central State College satellite when it opens this fall, however, so the commission decided to permanently relocate the parking for law enforcement to North Walnut.

“It’s going to be a little bit of a hassle to get them in there, but we want to make NCSC happy,” Mayor Jeff Reser said.

thill3@nncogannett.com

419-563-9225

Twitter: @ToddHillMNJ