Amendment could add four stop signs to intersection

For Bloomington resident Ronald Evans, an amendment to Bloomington’s neighborhood traffic safety programs means that cars might stop trespassing his yard.

“People do not know how to handle this intersection,” he said.

Evans is one of the residents that lives near the South Mitchell Street, East Southdowns Drive and East Circle Drive intersection.

In the past year, cars have trespassed Evan’s property at least four times. Evans has been living in the area for five years.

On Wednesday, the Bloomington City Council passed an amendment that would put four stop signs in the area to calm traffic. The council passed the recommendation 9-0.

The intersection became an issue when a neighborhood group was formed several years ago.

Mark Day, who has been living in the area for seven years, said group members were concerned about the possibility of accidents occurring. Many said they didn’t want their child to become the first accident.

The petition was officially filed on Dec. 12, 2008 with the support of Council member Dave Rollo.

There haven’t been any reported accidents in the area in the past three years, said Justin Wykoff, manager of engineering services for the City of Bloomington.

Wykoff presented the proposal to the City Council. He said there are 25 homes in the area. The city passed out ballots to the area’s residents to see what their opinion was. Twenty-one of the ballots were in favor of the stop signs.

The stop signs would ideally reduce motorists’ speed in the area but would not necessarily reduce the volume of them, Wykoff said. The city was also concerned about not pushing traffic to surrounding streets. 

“It’s one of the largest residential intersections I’ve ever seen,” said Rollo, the representative for the area. “It’s quite a job for a pedestrian to get from one side to the other.”

The estimated cost for the project is $20,700, but the funding would not come from the Common Council Sidewalk Committee. Wykoff said some of the funding would come from the city’s public works.

During the meeting, Rollo said the stop signs would improve the area.

“It’s been a long time coming,” he said.