Members of the New Castle City Council voted Monday for the second time to replace the stop signs on Ninth Street for north and southbound traffic at Church, Vine and Spring streets. A stop sign for the east approach at Church and Ninth Street will remain, making it a three-way stop.
The vote on Ordinance 3738, which repeals Ordinance 3724, the measure that removed the stop signs in question, passed unanimously on second reading. The original idea was to remove the stops to facilitate the city’s bike/pedestrian plan.
Mike Broyles, who helped design the city’s bike/ped plan, said that based on what he has seen in The Courier-Times, there hasn’t been an increase in accidents or speeding tickets issued in the area. He also pointed out that the council recently agreed to allow more time for people to get used to the changes before a vote would be taken to replace them.
“I’m a little bit disappointed,” Broyles said. “I thought we were doing something progressive, and because people don’t want change we’re backing off on that now.”
Council President Mark Koger said he recently parked near Ninth and Church for approximately 45 minutes to observe traffic and that it was “complete confusion.” Koger said there was no question in his mind that a stop sign at this intersection was needed.
“This isn’t a vote against the bike plan,” Koger said. “It’s about safety.”
Council member Vaughn Reid III said residents in the affected areas were of the opinion removal of the stops made the intersections unsafe, especially for children living in the neighborhoods impacted.
“That’s the most important consideration,” Reid said.
Mayor York said he thinks the city has made great progress in creating a bike/pedestrian plan and in implementing that plan.
“This time last year we had no paint on the road, we had nothing done for bicycles, and I’m happy with what we’ve done so far. I think we’ve improved our roads and I think more people are riding bicycles,” the mayor said.
Also passed on second reading were ordinances 3735, 3736 and 3737.
Ordinance 3735 removes two stops signs at N. 15th and Thornburg streets and the stop signs controlling east/west traffic on Indiana Avenue at 22nd Street. It also calls for placing a stop sign for northbound traffic on 22nd Street where it intersects Indiana Avenue.
Ordinance 3736 eliminates the bike/pedestrian lane and adds parking spaces on the east side of Bundy Avenue between Webster and Southern Avenue. It was noted that the street is narrow in this area and the bike/ped lane created parking concerns for people living in the area who have nowhere else to park.
Ordinance 3737 calls for the removal of the traffic light at Church and Main streets and placing stop signs for east/west traffic on Church Street.
Koger said people are in the habit of parking closer to the corners of this intersection than is safe and asked that the curbs be repainted yellow and “No Parking Here To Corner” signs be added so motorists pulling out onto Main from Church have a better line of sight. It was agreed this was a good idea. The traffic committee will consider the suggestion and make a recommendation at a later date.
In other news from this week’s city council meeting, Mayor York read a proclamation designating October as Dyslexia Awareness Month and presented it to 10-year-old Erin Groce of Spiceland. The youngster is the daughter of Jason and Heather Groce.
