Councilors vote against 4-way stop at intersection

By Sarah Brown
Lebanon Local
The City Council denied a request for a four-way stop at the intersection of Second and Mary streets at its regular meeting Wednesday, Dec. 8.
Neighbors adjacent to the intersection requested a four-way stop in November 2020. City staff performed a traffic study to determine if the proposal was warranted, but did not find enough evidence to support going forward.
“The main reason that the request has come forward is for speeding reasons,” Engineering Services Director Ron Whitlatch said.
Most of the traffic observed during the study drove “well within the norms” for speed, and it was suggested that stop signs should not be used for speed control, he said.
Councilor Wayne Dykstra asked if speed bumps could be considered.
“I’m very against speed bumps, just throwing them out willy-nilly I don’t think is good practice,” Councilor Jason Bolen said. “Everyone’s going to want a speed bump on their street because everyone wants to deter speeding.”
Councilor Kim Ullfers added that the bumps caused problems for first responders needing to get to emergencies efficiently.
Area resident Kay Cortez spoke in favor of the stop signs, saying that semi-trucks were traveling through the area. She also said she saw a U-Haul roll through a stop sign on her street without stopping.
“You people don’t live here, and you don’t see what we see,” she said. “They’re not even observing the stop signs here. It’s not safe.”
Mayor Paul Aziz apologized to Cortez for having to deal with the situation, but he noted that the city received multiple requests for stop signs and speed bumps, which can sometimes cause more problems than solve them.
Also present were councilors Gamael Nassar, Wayne Rieskamp and Michelle Steinhebel.
In other business, the council held a public hearing and approved an ordinance amendment (DCA-21-02) allowing fuel stations to be erected in mixed use and industrial zones within the city of Lebanon.
Locations will also be allowed in neighborhood mixed use and neighborhood commercial zones, but there are very few of those zones in Lebanon at this time.