Despite changes to other intersections along the Third Street Bike Boulevard the four-way stop at Third Street and Camino Miramonte will not be changing.

Following the story about the changes to Third and Treat including a new traffic circle and the removal of east/west stop signs, many of you asked whether the city would be removing the stops at Third and Miramonte. According to to an email from City of Tucson traffic engineer Blake Olofson the stop signs will remain because of specific issues at the intersection.

Olofson said that the city now has an unofficial policy of stopping cross traffic along bike boulevards even if a traffic circle is present because of crashes that occurred along the Fourth Avenue Bike Boulevard when motorists didn’t see bicyclists on the bike boulevard.

Olofson said when the city installed the traffic circle at Third and Miramonte they removed the stop signs for people heading east or west on Third, but kept the stop signs on Miramonte to align with the policy along bike boulevards.

However the city returned to the the four-way stop at the intersection.

“…due to the skewed geometry of the intersection and lack of sidewalks and curb ramps we felt it was safer for all users to stop at this location,” Olofson wrote. “In the end, I do think stop control at a circle is a little different, but can’t think of a compelling reason why it would be less safe.”