Apparently, a new four-way stop erected this past week on Windgate Road at Raintree Bend has rankled a few citizens, including Peachtree City Councilman Eric Imker.
Imker brought up the matter at Thursday night’s City Council meeting, saying that he thinks council should have had a chance to discuss the matter before the stop signs were installed. The intersection was previously a two-way stop for traffic on Raintree Bend.
City Engineer David Borkowski noted that the change was advertised in the Peachtree City Update emails that are sent to residents weekly, but he could see how it would still catch some residents by surprise.
Imker explained that the resident who complained to him about the four-way stop was not computer-savvy and thus was unlikely to get the city’s emailed updates.
Councilman George Dienhart said he also would have liked to know about the decision, noting that he drives though the area several times a day.
Borkowski said the intersection met the specifications for installing a four-way stop, as there are sight distance issues with a vertical curve approaching the intersection. There also have been four crashes at the intersection since 2009, he added.
Imker said he recommends leaving the decisions to City Manager Jim Pennington in terms of which issues should be brought forth to City Council for a decision.
It was noted that if the city learns that an intersection meets the need for a four-way stop and fails to make the improvements, the city could potentially be held liable in court for any subsequent traffic accident at the intersection.
Imker said he felt the decision to erect the four-way stop was “arbitrary” but Borkowski had noted earlier that the evaluation was conducted by the city’s traffic engineering firm before the decision was made to proceed with erecting the signs.
Imker asked Borkowski if there was any possibility of removing the four-way stop in the future. Borkowski recommended against it.
“It’s not a good idea,” Borkowski said.
City resident Jim Savage suggested that the city improve street lights at the intersection in an effort to improve safety. He also noted that there are a number of intersections in the city where street lights don’t work anymore, even though the city is paying for them.
Borkowski said that when the Georgia Department of Transportation replaced a number of traffic light mast arms last year, DOT refused to replace the street lights that were on the poles. The city is trying to work with Georgia Power on getting those lights re-installed. The city is also dealing with problems with street lights erected along Ga. Highway 54 on the bridge crossing the CSX railroad track.
