Letter to the Editor

To the Editor:

Dear Clarissa City Council,

I would like to suggest that the council consider having the STOP signs on Leslie Avenue West at Robert and Frank Streets removed.

Since we no longer have an operating school and therefore frequently walking students, the STOP signs no longer serve any significant safety or overall public service. I’m sure that all affected persons will acknowledge that the traffic on Frank Street is extremely minimal.

I would suggest that a YIELD for Frank Street traffic is all that is necessary at its intersection with Leslie Avenue West.

When the gym is being utilized for school functions, it’s most common for students to arrive and leave via bus and not as foot traffic.

Though traffic is a bit heavier on Robert Street, it simply isn’t heavy enough to warrant a four-way stop.

A STOP sign for Robert Street alone should be more than adequate. There is even room to consider a YIELD at that junction.

I comment on that intersection further just for the sake of consideration of the STOP and YIELD sign issue and in no way to suggest a police trap there.

Living within readily visible sight of the intersection, I observe continuous day and night “little more than slow downs” or outright “running” of the STOP signs, mostly on Leslie, but less so, even on Robert.

I’m certainly not present or observing out the window 365 days a year, 24 hours a day, but in more than 20 years I’m personally not aware of one single accident at Leslie Avenue West and Robert Street. I’m not near enough to verify what goes on at Frank Street and Leslie Avenue West, but again, am not aware of a single accident at that crossing either.

I don’t know if there may have been any DOT requirements for STOP signs adjacent to a school. My personal travels would suggest that there is not, but that is an assumption not a statement of fact. Beyond that, I would believe that the use of the property, now owned by a private entity, no longer qualifies it to be a school.

With those thoughts in mind, I would again like to suggest that the city council strongly consider my recommendation for those changes, which I personally believe are for the benefit of all affected.

Sonja Vlach

Clarissa