Some residents of Valparaiso's Keystone Commons neighborhood say they want more traffic calming measures before a new road connection is added. The city is looking to extend Goodrich Road from Ransom Road south to Vale Park Road, which itself was recently extended.
But resident Brian Wilson says the city never installed a speed table that had been proposed for the intersection of Vale Park Road and Saddlebrook Crossing. He told the board of works last week that a stop sign that was installed does little to slow down the increased traffic, but adds noise and pollution.
"I can tell you, it's not been effective," Wilson said. "I hate that our officers have to waste their time babysitting it, and I think it could be much better controlled with some speed humps."
He said a traffic study showed that the average speed was more than 10 miles per hour over the 20-mile-per-hour limit and recommended that the stop sign be replaced by speed humps. Since the study, the amount of traffic has continued to increase, and he's concerned that the Goodrich extension will only add more.
Wilson's neighbor, Jake Keith, said he's not against the new connection, but he wants it to be done safely. "You guys have effectively reduced our personal safety, the stability and our housing values," Keith told board members.
Mayor Jon Costas was surprised that residents were asking the city to remove a stop sign in their neighborhood. "Obviously, people have different views on what's safe and what's not, and I guess I'm a little surprised," Costas said. "I thought the residents always wanted a stop sign, so we tried that, and now I hear you saying that wasn't — and, maybe, we try things to see how it works."
City Engineer Max Rehlander promised to reevaluate the traffic study. He said he wanted to make sure that removing the stop sign wouldn't lead to higher speeds. Still, Costas felt the situation would have been worse had the city not made the "significant investment" of narrowing Vale Park Road by almost half.
