San Antonio officials rejected a stop sign request in an East Side neighborhood after a study found it wasn’t needed, despite speeding concerns from residents.
Mason Hickok for MySA
San Antonio residents hoping to install stop signs to quell speeding in an East Side neighborhood will have to go back to the drawing board after the city found that one was not needed.
The neighborhood in question is Dignowity Hill, one of the city’s many historical neighborhoods. Some residents were pushing to convert a two-way intersection into a four-way stop to deter speeding.
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Nolan Street runs east to west through Dignowity Hill from Interstate 37 to just past North New Braunfels Avenue. In total, Nolan Street stretches nearly two miles, with several intersections along the way.
Nearby residents and businesses were concerned about a specific stretch of Nolan Street, specifically, about a half-mile stretch starting from where a man was hit by a car while walking his dogs late last year.
The crash near the intersection of Nolan and Pine streets helped push the installation of flashing stop signs. A 311 request helped push the city to consider an infrastructure change. It came last month.
“Staff determined that flashing stop signs may help address resident concerns at this location,” a San Antonio Public Works Department spokesperson said in an email to MySA.
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Nolan Street runs east to west through Dignowity Hill from Interstate 37 to just past North New Braunfels Avenue.
Mason Hickok for MySA
City denies four-way intersection despite resident concerns
David Golden has lived in Dignowity Hill for six years, near the intersection of Nolan Street and Palmetto Avenue. Traffic concerns — specifically, speeding — are rampant.
He pointed to a specific incident on February 17 involving his parked car in the street: a driver clipped the side of his truck after overcorrecting another vehicle. Both vehicles were speeding, Golden said.
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Golden said after the incident, he began seeing Facebook posts from other Dignowity Hill residents echoing similar traffic concerns.
“(Nolan Street) is more of a throughway, (because) it’s connecting, so a lot of people try to cut through, for whatever reason,” he said.
After the crash, Golden felt it necessary to push for the current two-way intersection to change to a four-way. He filed documents for the study through 311 the day after the crash in front of his home.
Nearby residents and businesses were concerned about a specific stretch of Nolan Street, specifically, about a half-mile stretch starting from where a man was hit by a car while walking his dogs late last year.
Mason Hickok for MySA
Are speed bumps the answer?
One traffic measure that has become divisive in at least two Dignowity Hill neighborhood Facebook groups is the installation of speed bumps. Jessica Knopp, who owns retail space near the intersection of Nolan and Pine Streets, said speeding is “100% an issue.” Regarding the Nolan and Pine intersection, Knopp said people “tear through it,” despite the now-lighted four-way intersection.
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While Knopp said she could support speed bumps along Nolan Street, both she and Golden expressed uncertainty, specifically about concerns from emergency officials that the speed bumps could impede response times.
However, Joe Arrington, a public information officer with the San Antonio Fire Department, said: “They do not slow us down more than, say, a 4-way stop or traffic light-controlled intersection.” Arrington said the rubber speed bumps are typically spaced far enough apart for trucks to pass through.
Golden added that she is not confident that speed bumps would deter speeding.
“If we’re going to waste all that time and energy in to put those in … it’s going to promote people to go faster,” Golden said. “I’d be opposed to them just because I feel like people are going to speed through them.”
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Part of the reason Golden identified the Nolan and Palmetto intersection was that it serves as a “halfway point” on Nolan Street. The road stretches an unchecked half-mile between the four-way intersection at Nolan and Pine and the stoplight intersection at North New Braunfels Avenue.
On April 6, days after Golden spoke with MySA, the Public Works spokesperson said the investigation had concluded and “traffic counts and crash data did not support a change in the intersection’s traffic control.”
Asked whether the District 2 city council office could fund or install a stop sign, a spokesperson said they could not if Public Works’ data did not warrant one.
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“We will work with PWD to explore other traffic calming options,” the spokesperson said.