Letters From Our Readers

June 09, 2009 09:54 pm

— Removing stops signs on Veterans Memorial

Councilman (Lanny) Ray, I find your reasoning concerning removing stop signs on Veterans Memorial at Smither and Woodward to be seriously flawed.
First, those stop signs were originally put there for a reason. By City Council’s own admission, no studies were done to justify the removal of these signs, just some complaints by a few people.
Second, inconvenience is not a good reason when people’s physical well-being is at stake. I have driven that road many times, also, and I have usually encountered other drivers at those stop signs, not infrequently as you stated.
Third, those stop signs are the only things that slow some drivers down. If you want to drive freeway speeds, do it on the freeway! And traffic will increase once Target opens.
Fourth, why was the stop sign removal not made widely known in The Item?
Other road changes certainly were, and sufficient time was given for all drivers to become aware of the changes. How much notice did council give Huntsville drivers?
If you are like me, I read the paper every day. I pay bills once a month, and by the time I have spent most of my money, I am not in the mood to read bill inserts. And now, 15,000 Bearkats won’t be aware of the change when they return in the fall.
Most of them don’t pay water bills and thus won’t have seen the insert.
Also, I have to agree with the Harveys: what the heck does “traffic control change” mean in this case? You didn’t bother to tell the rest of us.
Fifth, inconvenience is just a pitiful excuse. By his own admission, Councilman Ray frequently doesn’t stop at those signs because it is inconvenient. What’s next? Is it inconvenient to ignore the no-left-turn signs at 11th Street and University? Pedestrians, beware! How about school zones? Those must be a real nuisance! How about a little Pedestrian Polo? I know I am being flippant here, but sometimes our laws are inconvenient for some to protect the rest of us.
In short, Mr. Ray, you and most of your fellow council members didn’t think this through.
You’re not traffic engineers. You should have let Chief Barrow do his job first. Fortunately, Marian Harvey survived. Personally, I have always found the “well,-nobody’s-died-there-yet” argument to be downright callous!

Donna Barron
Huntsville