Intersection too dangerous for stop signs

December 8, 2009 • written by Emma Lawson  
Filed under Columns, Editorials, Opinion

With cars moving in jerky, unsure spurts, and occasionally coming to a halt, the four-way intersection between Essex and Geyer is chaotic.

A stop sign is not adequate for this intersection.  A sign might be helpful except this intersection is a four-way stop, at an angle, creating several blind spots when driving or walking. What this intersection needs is an electric signal.

Essex is a true east-west thoroughfare, yet Geyer veers from south to northwest at the intersection.  Because the intersection is not a perfect cross, it is more difficult for a pedestrian or a driver to see a vehicles time of arrival at  the other three directions of the intersection.

Above, Lexi Ives, Kirkwood resident, walks home with her younger brother after Keysor Elementary School was dismissed. "It is a little dangerous," Ives said about the intersection.

Kirkwood Police officer Jim Cox said electric signals are not usually put in areas with a close proximity to homes.  However, the three-way intersection of Quan and Woodlawn, which operates during the school year, has an electric signal and is surrounded by homes.  Not only is Quan and Woodlawn a three-way and not four-way intersection, but it’s also perfectly north, south, west.  No angles. No blind spots.  Essex and Geyer is a four-way intersection and not a perfect cross.

The reason there is an electric signal and walking signal at the Quan and Woodlawn intersection is because younger elementary kids that walk to school, said Cox.

However, a short way down Geyer road is Keyser Elementary school and for many of the elementary students, crossing through the intersection is how they get to and from school.

John Schumer, who has been a Keyser crossing guard for four years said the intersection is too dangerous and would be better off and safer with an electric signal.

According to City of Kirkwood Council Member Gina Jaksetic, if an electric signal were put at the intersection of Essex and Geyer, the proposal would have to go through a group in Kirkwood called the Traffic and Safety Committee. The committee would evaluate traffic flow and accident rates in the area. Kirkwood citizens who want changes would have to make recommendations and requests to the City of Kirkwood, Jaksetic said.

An electric signal at this four-way intersection would be beneficial for all.  It would benefit drivers by taking the guesswork out of when to proceed.  It would also be safer for pedestrians, including elementary students, as they would have a signal indicating when to “walk.”   The City of Kirkwood would be doing their citizens a favor by putting an electric signal at the intersection of Essex and Geyer.