Tucson Police Department officers will have to find a new spot to target cyclists for running stop signs on Third Street at Treat Avenue are removed this week.
On Thursday construction crews will install speed tables on Third Street both east and west of Treat Avenue. Once complete, the stop sign for cyclists riding along Third Street will be taken down.
The stop signs have long frustrated cyclists who ride on Third Street, which is one of the most popular bikeways in the region. The sign was often ignored by cyclists and frequently enticed TPD to setup stings to ticket cyclists.
Cyclist Alan Solot rides through the intersection daily and said the switch to speed tables instead of stop signs would be an improvement for cyclists.
City of Tucson bike and pedestrian program manager Ann Chanecka said the goal was to create a traffic circle at the intersection, but compromised with the neighborhood on the speed tables and removal of the Third Street signs.
Chanecka was out of the office when speaking to Tucson Velo and didn’t have the exact cost estimate for the project, but said speed tables generally cost $4,000 each.
The project if being funded through Regional Transportation Authority funds devoted to the route.
She said the idea behind the project is to keep cyclists from having to start and stop often and keep the traffic on the street going slow.
“Without the stop sign there would have been a long stretch of road without any traffic controls,” Chanecka said. “The speed tables will encourage drivers to slow down.”
Ordinary Bike Shop owner, David Tang said Third Street is one of his main routes and he is all for the change.
He said people roll through the stop sign all the time and the change will be welcome.
A 4-way yield would be better, but I’m all for the removal of the east/west stop signs. Treat still will have 5 stop signs in a 6 block section (Speedway, 1st, 3rd, 5th, 6th). Looking forward to the change 🙂
We don’t need any stop signs on residential streets. Remove all of them. The government has to have a reason for existing. Their #1 method to convince the public they’re needed is by making us think we’d all kill each other if they weren’t here to regulate us children.
Steve Wilson I’ve never understood the idea behind the stop signs – north-south ONLY – at Fifth and Treat. The north-south ones at First and Treat are strange too. What is the Big Picture I’m missing?
But at least we’ll have a HAWK signal at Treat and Broadway.
Hurri47 Steve Wilson Hurri – The reason is there are no speed bumps between 3rd and 6th, so cars would really get some speed up in that 1/4 mile without a break in the action. The stop signs generally alternate so you can never drive more than 2 blocks without encountering a stop sign or a speed bump.
3wheeler Need is a strong word, but the neighborhood streets with minimal traffic control become thoroughfares where people speed like crazy and are very dangerous. Wilson from Speedway to Elm is a good example…people often drive 40+ on this residential street…maybe more yield signs would be helpful…
The Third Street bike route needs some serious resurfacing. I avoid it because there are so many less-jarring ways to ride in that area.
Almost every street in and around the U of A are in serious disrepair. For a University with one of the largest endowments, they sure don’t care what the streets are like in and around their campus. I think it is embarrassing and further keeps people from wanting to ride their bikes in that area.
What’s a speed table?
http://streetswiki.wikispaces.com/Speed+Table
(nice “asphlat” in the photo there, btw)
RBG – I agree with your assessment of the street conditions, but the UA has no ownership of or responsibility for city owned streets. That is strictly a City of Tucson responsibility.
What’s a speed table?
http://streetswiki.wikispaces.com/Speed+Table
Steve Wilson Direct ownership no…but collectively we all own those roads. When you say the city is responsible you are saying we are collectively responsible for their upkeep. Cities are created so the the common tasks needed to be done can be paid for by the group via taxes. If the projects you want aren’t getting done, chip in, throw some money at it and get it fixed. The U of A has plenty of money and I’m sure with coordination the city wouldn’t mind them doing some upkeep of the streets in and around campus to keep the students and faculty safe…obviously they don’t really care.
RandomBikeGuy Steve Wilson RBG – I don’t want to get in to a dead end argument, but suffice it to say the the UA does not have plenty of money. Talk with professors or admins in any dept on campus, money is tight everywhere. The legislature is slowly starving the state university system. There is millions in deferred maintenance waiting to be done on campus.
So am I the only one who remembers when 3rd through Sam Hughes was signed to let cars know they weren’t allowed to be on the bike route for more than one block and only if they were local traffic? Whatever happened to that? You don’t need speed tables or stop signs for traffic with one block of duration max.
@Orvis So, did they ever set up a sting for cars that didn’t go along with that one? How long did that last….hard to believe a neighborhood signing off on it.
@zz Lasted for decades and compliance was anecdotally high. In general automobilists were much more compliant in that era. This was awhile ago, Lloyd’s Mexican restaurant and El Greco were still standing and they were still putting cones down 6th/5th streets twice a day to re-order the lane configurations for rush hr and you could park a car along 6th by the university too.
As of this morning (on 10/30/13) the stop signs remain and there are no speed tables installed on the Third and Treat intersection.
arsolot
There were red spray paint markings Saturday (10/26/13) on 3rd. If they wait too much longer they’ll have to set the tables all over again?
Red Star arsolot Yes, those red lines painted on 3rd St. last week. Nothing else has happened there.
arsolot Red Star It could be a while if the red spray paint markings are cave drawings…
[…] worry about getting ticketed during a Tucson Police Department sting at the intersection. The City said they planned to remove the stop signs in 2013 following the installation of speed tables, but it […]