11-13-2000 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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Peak hour traffic counts were completed from 7:15 a.m. to 8:15 a.rn. by public works personnel. A total of 833 vehicles passed through the Old Crystal Bay Road/South Driveway intersection during the morning peak hour. If this peak hour volume existed for at least eight hours per day, a traffic signal would be warranted, but this peak volume only occurs for less than two hours per day. However, this is still a substantial number of vehicles that are unable to safely pass through this intersection without improvements to the existing traffic control measures which consist of stop signs at the driveway exits. Permanent Four Way Stop Sign We have experimented with several different solutions to this problem and have developed a traffic control system that appears to be acceptable and in fact is working. This solution requires a 4-way stop sign at the new south middle/high school driveway and crosswalk. Without this stop sign, vehicles have a difficult time entering and exiting the parking lots and when the parking lot backups extend onto Old Crystal Bay the whole system becomes gridlocked. With the 4-way stop sign, the drivers are forced to stop and take turns passing through this intersection area. This keeps all of the vehicles moving at slow steady speed and kept the traffic backups confined to Old Crystal Bay Road and off of County Road 6. The stop signs also provide safer conditions for the pedestrians in the crosswalk. Basically, the plan is to have the middle school vehicles use the south entrance for both entering and exiting the parking lot and to circulate in a counter clockwise direction through the parking lot. This provides room for traffic queuing in the parking lot at the driveway exit stop sign and limits conflicts with the buses at the north driveway. The high school parking lot circulation is to enter at the north driveway and exit at the south driveway. This plan will require monitoring the north bus entrance driveway and periodically directing traffic to facilitate school bus movements across Old Crystal Bay Road. This monitor can also restrict pedestrian crossings at this driveway. This driveway monitoring should be the responsibility of the school district. The 4-way stop sign can be installed under the provisions of Stop Sign Warrant 2B-5 No. 1 in the Minnesota Manual on Uniform Traffic control Devices Manual which allows for installation of stop signs at intersections where "application of the normal right-of way rule is unduly hazardous" Without the installation of this 4-way stop sign three hazardous conditions exist; an unsafe school pedestrian crossing, insufficient gaps in the Old Crystal Bay Road traffic for vehicles to safely enter or exit the driveways, and traffic backups onto County Road 6, a heavy traffic and high speed County Road. The Four-Way stop sign is working well and has received a favorable response from the school district and police department. This new stop sign has reduced speeds along this road resulting in safer conditions for pedestrian crossings and safer access from the numerous driveways along this section of Old Crystal Bay Road. Before iistallation of the stop sign numerous vehicles were exceeding the normal 40 m.p.h. and the 25 m.p.h. school zone speed limit. We have not received any complaints about installation of this new stop sign. Page 2 of 6