Stoplight Opponents Get Project Delayed

A traffic light proposed for the busy Handy Street-Collins Avenue intersection will not be erected any time soon.

Residents who oppose the plan, fearing that a signal would encourage motorists to speed through the intersection to beat the light, managed this week to delay approval of the project.

Instead, City Council members agreed to create a Handy Neighborhood Preservation Committee to study the issue. The group will include representatives from the neighborhood, nearby schools and the Public Works Department.

City Council members delayed a decision on the matter in April, despite warnings from Public Works Director Harry W. Thomas that traffic volume has outgrown the capacities of the four-way stop signs now in place.

Thomas and city engineers had suggested removing the signs, putting up the light and pedestrian crosswalk signals, and adding left-turn pockets to smooth the traffic flow. Some curbside parking spaces would have been sacrificed because the street is so narrow, engineers said.

The guard who helps children from nearby Handy Elementary School cross the street would remain whether the intersection has lights or stop signs, council members said.

A report from the Public Works Department acknowledged that motorists could well increase their speed if a light replaces the stop signs, but extra vigilance by traffic officers could help offset the problem.

Maggie Duerr, a Collins Avenue resident, said she was not satisfied with that recommendation.

“I live in that potential for increased speed,� she said. “I have two kids. I had comfort in knowing those stop signs were there. . . . Would this light serve the commuters from Riverside or us, the residents?�