Stop signs at this intersection, 12th Avenue and Elm Street in West Albany, were the subject of a brief discussion by the city council Monday.
For a summary, take a look at the video below.
Albany streets seem to sprout stop signs on every other block. The decision against adding two more on Elm at 12th was a sensible one in the interest of letting traffic flow. (hh)
This post was helpful, but it also illustrates how out of touch Albany government is with the average citizen.
Most, and I mean virtually all, of Albany does not tune in to virtual meetings of the council or the Traffic Safety Commission. So if a citizen is motivated to inform themselves on what these two bodies have decided they depend on the minutes of the meetings.
The most recent minutes posted online for the council are from the September 23rd meeting.
The most recent minutes posted online for the Traffic Safety Commission are from the September 14th meeting.
One gets the feeling that Albany government couldn’t care less about transparency or the need to inform the citizenry of their deliberations in a timely manner.
Sad.
As for me, I’d favor a four way stop at that intersection. Having spent some time working radar at that intersection (back ’71 – ’00) I can tell ya most drivers were in the +38 – 45 MPH range. Particularly as Elm St is a straight away (long, long ago Hwy 99E) drivers just speed thru. Plus more than a few accidents there.
Thanks for bringing this up, Hasso. I live on this street right by that intersection and it’s extremely frustrating to watch people speed through at 40+ mph on a regular basis. I’ve nearly been hit walking my dog in that intersection and until Covid closed the schools I was very worried about the kids walking home.
When drivers heading south on Elm reach 12th street they can see it’s a clear shot all the way to Queen so they hit the gas. It’s even worse now that a group of street racers live on this block and use it frequently to speed in order to show off their loud mufflers.
I wish I would have known there was a meeting on this topic because I would have made sure to be there.
I’d love a 4 way stop at this intersection or at least a regular presence from the traffic police but my frequent emails and phone calls have not been successful to get them out here. At best we get one of those automatic speed monitors for a few days but with no teeth to them it doesn’t really make a difference.