New 4-way Stop Proposed For Busy Intersection

Fairhope, Alabama


Gayfer Avenue eastbound

GAYFER AVENUE AT PATLYNN DRIVE

During a Street and Traffic control committee meeting last week, old requests for a new stop sign on Gayfer Avenue at Patlynn Drive were reviewed by committee members ... but the matter was tabled for more study.

Street/Traffic committee
Lt. Hammrick of the FPD's Traffic Patrol Division said the requests had been pending for some time: one to reduce speeding and the other to facilitate pedestrian/bike crossing at the intersection, especially children going to and coming from the nearby Elementary School.

Hammrick was not opposed to the 4-way idea, "the volume of cars to the school ... gives no break in traffic for crossing there," but he worried about fast-moving eastbound traffic having time to stop after the blind curve just west of the intersection.


SIGHT STUDY NEEDED FIRST

Citing traffic count statistics gathered years ago, public works director Johnson said  Gayfer qualified as a "major arterial" now (even during non-school hours) -- and proposed doing a "sight study" at the curve  for the eastbound traffic ... even though the speed limit is set low, 25 mph.

Councilman Burrell agreed more study was needed to find ways to "make a 4-way stop there safe," but he too called a 4-way stop there "not a bad idea."

He added blinking lights or rumble strips could warn eastbound drivers rounding the curve of the approaching new stop sign.

The Street/Traffic Committee meets on an as-needed basis and only makes recommendations to the city council for final approval.








Comments

Anonymous said…

How about speed humps to slow em' down some.

I wouldn't let my kids walk through there. Too dangerous.
Anonymous said…
Speeding is also a problem on Volanta Ave. How does a person contact this committee for consideration of speed bumps or a 4 way stop at Bon Secour and Volanta?? Residents get the run around as to WHO can look into this traffic concern..
Publisher said…
Th city clerk will be able to put you in touch with this committee.
Anonymous said…
The police will put a patrol car there for a short period of time when enough of us that live on Gayfer complain about the speeders along Gayfer. I propose putting a few automatic gun turrets along Gayfer that are triggered to disable the cars that are traveling well over 40mph. Initially this will create a few weeks of delays as the city will be required to remove multiple disabled cars along Gayfer, but once all of the defective cars have been eliminated traffic will return to a normal flow. I understand this may seem harsh when first viewed because we know it is not the drivers fault, heck most drivers don’t know how fast their cars are moving, they are dealing with real life on their phones and rely on their cars when it comes to mundane things like actually driving. The gun turrets will be able to eliminate the errant cars that are the true risk to our communities. The city could even purchase the owner of the defective cars a brand new car therefore eliminating any inconvenience the person may have with their old defective car being eliminated.