Three-way stop at Summit schools intersection

There’s a three-way stop now at the intersection between Summit Collegiate High School and Summit Charter Intermediate Academy.

At its meeting on Tuesday as part of its consent calendar the Tulare County Board of Supervisors approved placing a stop sign at the T, three-way intersection of Redwood Street and Thurman Avenue which separates the two schools. By Wednesday the third stop sign was placed on Redwood for northbound traffic.

So now the intersection is an all-way, three-way stop. Stop signs were already on Thurman for vehicles heading west when leaving between the two schools and also for southbound vehicles when leaving SCIA, which is just to the north of of Summit High School. Now those who are turning right to head onto Thurman from Redwood when arriving at the schools must now stop.

“Concerns have been raised regarding current and existing traffic congestion, recently increased traffic volumes from the construction of new school facilities nearby, and pedestrian safety while crossing between the two schools,” the county staff report stated.

In response to safety concerns at this intersection, the Tulare County Resource Management Agency (RMA) conducted an investigation. The Mult-way Stop Applications of the California Manual on Uniform Traffic Control states: “Multi-way stop control can be useful as a safety measure at intersections if certain traffic conditions exist.”

Those conditions include when pedestrians, bicyclists and all those using the road expect others to stop, but there’s no stop sign.

The state manual calls for a multi-way stop when there’s a “need to control vehicle/pedestrian conflicts near locations that generate high pedestrian volumes.” this section includes the criteria to consider such conflicts for the installation of a Multi-way Stop. In addition, a stop sign can be placed when it “would enhance traffic safety.”

The county’s Resource Management Agency stated the intersection met the state’s requirements for the three-way stop and recommended the third stop sign be placed.

Funding for the stop sign came from the county’s roads budget.