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City reverses itself on stop sign decision
by Jerry Roberts
People weary of exhaust and noise pollution at or near the corner of Highland Avenue and Ninth Street in Manhattan Beach prevailed over neighbors who asked the city to put a four-way stop sign in the intersection to make the crosswalk safer.
The city council voted unanimously to remove the two signs on Highland after voting unanimously to install them in September, after some residents complained that the crosswalk there wasn’t safe for children to cross.
Of the 25 residents who spoke to the issue Tuesday night at the city council meeting, 14 were for pulling out the signs and 11 were for keeping them. The council’s solution carried the proviso that some method of traffic control be applied on Highland, with the stopgap alternative being standing sandwich-style placards placed in the street’s center, which cars must negotiate--a solution El Segundo has adopted to aid crosswalk safety on Main Street.
City Manager Geoff Dolan was directed to test the viability of a new method of warning lights to be placed into the pavement that shine upward warning cars of the crosswalk. Santa Monica has installed such crosswalk-warning lights. The city could also place a crosswalk at a midpoint between Eighth and Ninth streets on Highland to accommodate a yellow flashing light that could be pedestrian activated to turn red. Community Development Director Richard Thompson told the council that this alternative would require the reclamation of eight parking spaces, which are at a premium in the neighborhood. Either light solution would cost the city more than $15,000.
Resident John Zisk called the extra starting and stopping engine noise and the exhaust fumes generated at the corner an "around-the-clock nightmare" that prevented his sleep as if he were "living at the end of a runway."
Lisa Kern lives east of Highland and has three children under the age of 5, and said that the four-way had made for safer crossings. Before the council reversed its decision, she told the members: "Do we need to reiterate that we made a recommendation, and that you voted for it?" ER