SPEED CONTROL
The City of Santa Clarita receives many requests regarding
the application of various traffic control devices to address
traffic safety issues throughout the City.
The City often receives inquiries about installing stop signs
as a way to reduce speeding and accidents. However, research
shows that other measures are often more effective in reducing
accidents. For example, improving intersection visibility
by prohibiting parking near the intersection often reduces
the need to install more restrictive intersection controls.
Overuse of stop signs reduces their effectiveness, and if
installed where not justified, drivers largely ignore the
signs. Impatient drivers may also view the additional delays
caused by unwarranted stop signs as "lost time"
to be made up by driving at higher speeds between stop signs.
This in turn leads to an unsafe situation.
An article entitled "The Stop Sign Epidemic," published
by a UC Berkeley Professor in the Western Institute of Transportation
Engineers publication, pointed out a correlation between increases
in air pollution/fuel consumption and stop sign installation.
The article illustrated that a single vehicle stopped or standing
at a stop sign may produce ten times more pollutants, such
as carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons, and nitrogen oxide, compared
with a car moving at a constant speed. At the same time, a
vehicle standing at a stop sign consumes ten times as much
fuel.
Stop signs are usually installed to regulate traffic flow
and improve safety. Their main purpose is to provide right-of-way
control at intersections and to reduce certain types of accidents.
Each stop sign should be installed after a careful study of
the location by a Professional Engineer, and only when warranted.
The State of California Department of Transportation has
specific guidelines and conditions for installing stop signs
at intersections. These "Warrants for Stop Signs"
are described in the California Department of Transportation
Traffic Manual as follows:
Multi-Way Stop Signs:
“Multi-Way Stop” installations may be useful
at some intersections. They should ordinarily be used only
where the volume of traffic on intersecting roads is approximately
equal. Any of the following conditions may warrant a multi-way
stop installation:
1. Where a traffic signal is warranted and urgently needed,
a multi-way stop may be installed as an interim measure until
the signal is installed.
2. Five or more right angle and/or turning- movement accidents
have occurred in a recent 12-month period.
3. When the total vehicular volume entering the intersection
from all approaches averages at least 500 vehicles per hour
for any eight-hour period of an average day, and the combined
vehicle and pedestrian volume from the minor street averages
at least 200 units per hour for the same eight-hour period.
The City of Santa Clarita; however, has adopted its own rules
and regulations by resolution to modify the warrants for the
installations of multi-way stop signs in residential areas
to reflect lower volume traffic conditions, which are prevalent
on most neighborhood residential streets.
These warrants allow for the installation of multi-way stop
signs on residential intersections when one of the following
conditions is met:
