By NICK GOSNELL
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The Hutchinson City Council decided to put yield signs at the corner of Van Buren Street and Heather Parkway on Heather Parkway going east and west, with Van Buren as the through street going north and south.
There was some spirited discussion on whether a stop sign should go there. Traffic counts do not justify a stop sign at that corner, according to the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices. City Attorney Paul Brown was clear on his legal advice regarding putting stop signs where the MUTCD does not warrant them.
"We have standards for a reason," Brown said. "We follow professional standards for a reason. When we stray from those professional standards, that's when this city gets sued. That's the basis for negligence. Then they take a look at the folks who made that decision. How many of them were qualified to make that decision? Would you want the City Attorney making all the decisions about what traffic control devices should be in the city? No, he's not qualified, but engineering is and they use professional standards and it protects the city. I'm in charge of risk management. I'm speaking up, because that's how we get sued."
The 2009 edition of the MUTCD does say that a yield sign may be placed "at an intersection where a special problem exists and where engineering judgment indicates the problem to be susceptible to correction by the use of the YIELD sign."
Director of Engineering Jeff Peterson had not looked at the intersection from a yield sign perspective, so he was hesitant to make a recommendation either way, but ultimately the governing body is in charge of what happens in the city.
"When we looked at traffic volumes, there really isn't a dominant street there," Peterson said. "Heather Parkway and Van Buren actually have about the same traffic. Oftentimes, there is, you would think a primary street and a secondary street."
The governing body voted 5-0 to place the yield signs in an effort to calm traffic within that subdivision.