HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Last week, the City of Hutchinson notified the public that the temporary traffic signal located at the intersection of
30th and Lucille will be removed later this month. That has generated a lot of discussion and very different opinions on removal of the signal.
“The safety and wellbeing of our residents remains the top priority of the city,” Interim City Manager Gary Meagher said. “We want to be transparent and help those with concerns understand how we reached this decision.”
A statement released by the city on Tuesday stated that the stoplight was never meant to be permanent as it was installed to mitigate a potential temporary traffic issue caused by the 43rd Avenue bridge closing. Based on traffic studies done at the intersection and established safety standards, a traffic light at this intersection counterintuitively creates the potential for more crashes and increases liability on the city. Additionally, a permanent signal creates more delays at the intersection than other alternatives and is costly both to install and maintain.
The City says the Hutchinson Engineering Department along with their consulting engineer did a traffic volume warrant analysis and looked at the crash history of the intersection. Traffic counts were done for 3-4 weeks during the day. The study showed none of the traffic volume warrants were met. In this case. The study did include traffic flow during the start and end times of the school district and Prairie Hills Middle School.
Looking back on traffic records, there have been a few accidents at that location but none the city says would have been prevented by a controlled intersection. One was a driver that was trying to beat a school bus at the intersection, two rear end vehicle collisions, three vehicles that hit deer, and one vehicle that hit a dog. None were injury accidents.
The city also stated that allowing the signal to only be in operation during ingress and egress of school would only confuse motorists and make the intersection more dangerous. A roundabout could be installed but that would be expensive and would require land acquisition. Other options discussed included a four-way-stop which would cause further delay, and establishing a school zone which the city says is not appropriate or beneficial to the area since there are no clear pedestrian paths or crossings along both 30th and Lucille.
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