Sunday, April 28, 2013

What's A Stop Sign For?


A reader just sent in this video showing the intersection of Beacon and Leland on any average day. It shows the number of motorists who blatantly blow by the four-way stop. Want to know what might help reduce this? Voting for item #7 on the PB ballot which would make Leland from Clark to Clarendon a safe route for bikers and walkers with traffic calming bumpouts, bike lanes and planters. If you haven't voted yet, you can still stop by Alderman Cappleman's office during normal business hours or stop by Uplift High School on May 4 from 10am-2pm.
By -

14 comments:

  1. BrandonApril 28, 2013 at 1:47 PM

    1:01, 1:29.. what the heck people.. it's a big red octagon with the word "STOP" on it.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Philip McGregor RogersApril 28, 2013 at 2:11 PM

    Hilarious.
    The trash can needs to be emptied too.

    ReplyDelete
  3. UnknownApril 28, 2013 at 2:17 PM

    i realize this might make me sound like an ass, but the truth is there is an overabundance of stop signs in the neighborhoods. Every non-signalized intersection does not need a stop sign. It would make much more sense to have more yield signs. Driver education in this country is very poor so while this would make the most sense, I'm not sure it could be successfully adopted. I am not against stop signs, in some places they make sense.

    ReplyDelete
  4. ChicagoChristopherApril 28, 2013 at 2:55 PM

    UU apparently decided to censor my original comment about this and will probably censor this, too. Is there no modicum of fair and balanced on here? My comment slightly modified is: Why is UU advocating any particular proposal? There are lots of good proposals out there and this intersection is far from being a high priority... side street, modest traffic... Does a UU moderator perhaps live at this intersection? Not to downplay running stop sings (of which there are too many in this city anyway... especially 4-way on a side street is ridiculous -- 2-way would be more than adequate). UU advocating for any particular proposal is highly inappropriate. Get it together UU.

    ReplyDelete
  5. WoodMindApril 28, 2013 at 3:08 PM

    Wouldn't it make sense to remove exactly half of the stop signs? Every other intersection could even make a bigger impact, or say, streets like Leland have perhaps a stop every three streets like Wilson and Lawrence.

    Or everybody should just start riding bikes and thin the load of cars.

    ReplyDelete
  6. m.ericApril 28, 2013 at 7:03 PM

    Um, submit this to CPD so these law-breakers get some nasty little orange and white surprises in the mail (tickets).

    ReplyDelete
  7. Organic peregrine terra cotta bricolage cruelty- free locally outsourced maple nut crunchApril 28, 2013 at 7:39 PM

    Shaming will not work with these drivers, you must effect physical barriers to driving reckless such as speed bumps.
    I have fond memories of my childhood in which a small street running about 9 blocks was like a Nascar race, often ending in one driver hitting somebody who ran a stop sign, getting out and bolting because they had just stolen the car they crashed.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Anita HipApril 28, 2013 at 8:52 PM

    Although it can be frustrating being a driver in Chicago, following basic laws should be a given. As a frequent pedestrian, I watch cars run through stops (and lights) every day. Yield signs are even worse -- a CTA bus almost ran into me last week in a Yield intersection that I was clearly walking through first -- and I had to move quickly backwards as the bus decided to keep rolling through. Worse, getting through an intersection without a sign/light within white lines is literally threatening, despite right of way laws (80% of drivers do not yield, unless there is some special signage reminding them to). If a community doesn't believe a particular stop sign is needed, then get it removed. Otherwise justifying/ignoring folks violating the law, affecting quality of life, and often endangering pedestrians seems to be a selfish response.

    ReplyDelete
  9. killerminpinApril 28, 2013 at 10:45 PM

    Why not make it a pigen crossing? That way everyone who thinks a ward free of flying rats and and adding a few planters and bike stations with " uptown" on them make this community a safe place to live!
    Wtf

    ReplyDelete
  10. UnknownApril 29, 2013 at 11:28 AM

    The way to alleviate traffic on Leland is to open south bound traffic on the 4600 block of North Racine. This will allow vehicles coming from Broadway or Lawrence to go directly to Wilson avenue.

    ReplyDelete
  11. UnknownApril 29, 2013 at 2:27 PM

    If I had to take a guess, I would say that the area is saturated with stop signs because it is a residential area with many parks and schools.

    Along with stopping, perhaps the idea is to prevent motorists from gaining too much speed in between blocks, which is also hazardous to children.

    it's probably in the same vein of thinking as when speed limits being established or when "Children At Play" signs are posted.

    Like I said, this is just a guess..

    ReplyDelete
  12. jonApril 29, 2013 at 4:35 PM

    Here is an idea. What if the Police just ticketed these folks? What a concept!

    ReplyDelete
  13. AnonymousApril 29, 2013 at 5:50 PM

    If the cops won't show up when there are fights in the park and blatant drug selling/using, they're not going to write a ticket for a stop sign.

    It's sad, but that's the state of affairs in Chicago and Uptown. We don't have enough murders in Uptown to get the proper number of police officers assigned here.

    ReplyDelete
  14. jkarczekMay 1, 2013 at 10:10 AM

    I wish there were a way for regular citizens to go about documenting these kinds of infractions so they could be used to get those responsible ticketed. Unfortunately, there probably isn't a realistic way to do it that would hold up to a legal challenge, even if police had the will and manpower to act on evidence they're presented with.

    ReplyDelete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)