(Riverton, WY) – The Riverton City Council is exploring options for safety improvements at the intersection of West Main and Hill Street after hearing from several concerned citizens during a regular meeting Tuesday.
“It’s a dangerous intersection,” resident Chuck Rodgers said. “You have to do something.”
Rodgers gave the council the same presentation he shared with the Fix Our Roads Citizens Committee earlier this year, including data showing 37 traffic collisions at the Main and Hill Street intersection over the past 14 years.
Twenty-four of those collisions resulted in recorded injuries, Rodgers said – though he called that number an “absolute underestimate” – and at least one person has died in the past decade as a result of a crash at the intersection.
He suggested several steps the city could take to enhance safety there, including:
-install a stop light at West Main and Hill Street
-ask the Wyoming Department of Transportation to reduce the speed limit on West Main Street
-redesign the traffic lanes on North Hill Street and install new reflective curbs so southbound vehicles approach West Main from a safer angle
Resident Robert Hussa added even more ideas to the list:
-install signage in the area warning motorists that they are approaching a dangerous intersection
-place a speed-reading sign on West Main Street to inform motorists when they are driving too fast
“I think those are all really legitimate (ideas),” Mayor Richard Gard said. “Those are all good suggestions.”
‘Start the ball rolling’
Gard asked city staff to “start the ball rolling” by drafting a letter to WYDOT expressing council support for reduced speed limits on West Main Street.
“They’ll come back with, ‘Well, we have to do a two-year traffic study,’ or something, but we might as well (try),” he said.
WYDOT’s district traffic engineer plans to attend the next FORCC meeting in Riverton, and resident engineer Robert Scheidemantel said the agency will likely ask for another traffic study at West Main and Hill Street after that.
Other councilmembers talked about the possibility of enhanced police patrols focused on speeding on West Main, and city administrator Kyle Butterfield said he would look into Rodgers’ idea to redesign the traffic stripes on North Hill Street.
Butterfield also said he has been working with Central Wyoming College on a larger-scale realignment at the intersection of Main and Hill streets.
“We hope to see something moving forward,” he said.
Traffic conflicts
Gard also asked city staff to schedule a work session for the council on traffic issues generally, pointing to other problematic intersections like the one at Major Avenue and Riverview Road.
“I would propose that we look at a four-way stop (there),” Gard said.
Monroe Avenue could use some attention too, he added, especially in the Spire Drive area where residents have complained about an increase in speeding and stop sign violations.
“Maybe we need to look at some speed bumps,” he said.
For more information call the City of Riverton at 856-2227.