ACHD's Road Wizard Sunday, February 05, 2017

The distance between the Presidential and Eagle Road intersection and the Pine and Eagle Road signal is enough reason to veto the construction of another signal.

That's ACHD's current position, and they manage all of the traffic signals in Ada County. The signal would also need approval from the Idaho Transportation Department, which has jurisdiction over Eagle Road.

I wouldn't get my hopes up because another signal may indeed reduce travel speeds on this part of Eagle Road, which serves as Idaho 55. Slow-moving traffic is already the prevailing complaint.

Also, one-mile signal spacing is preferred for high-volume, high-speed roads like Eagle, but that's not realistic with the abundance of retail and office spaces as well as homes along the highway. So a half-mile between signals is the general limit. The distance between Presidential and Pine is only about 750 feet. The distance between signals should be 2,640 feet.

No doubt there are times of day when making a left turn from Eagle Road onto Presidential is challenging, and turning right to leave the shopping area can mean gauging the approach of fast-moving motorists.

Routes within the shopping area give people other options, although those approaches may be less convenient.

Highplace Place sounds strange from the start, and the incorrect sign had probably been posted for some 13 years.

This is a private drive, which is why the sign is blue, and that means a developer installed the sign. ACHD is focused on maintaining public street signs, so ordinarily, ACHD wouldn't prioritize Highplace Lane.

But as luck would have it, ACHD's new sign crew chief lives in the area, and already adjusted the sign. It was the neighborly thing to do.

Some stop-sign controlled intersections have stop signs and stop line bars on the road surface that are quite a distance away from the intersection. There is a pedestrian pathway on the east side of Five Mile and the stop bar on Roan Meadows has to be at least four feet back from the edge of the pedestrian area.

This tells drivers to stop where they can watch for any approaching pedestrians. Then, drivers are expected to creep toward the intersection and look farther down the road for oncoming traffic. The tree isn't a vision blocker when motorists are appropriately positioned.