ACHD's Road Wizard
Sunday, July 23, 2017
Locust Grove Road gets push toward becoming five lanes; Camelot Drive and Freemont Street didn't get painted stop bars because the stops are temporary; sunken asphalt and stop sign change request on Janeen Street
The Road Wizard Replies
Dear Road Wizard: Many roads between Fairview Avenue and Ustick Road are being widened. One that hasn't, but is the closest to Eagle Road, is Locust Grove Road. Are there any plans for that, or will it stay a single lane for some years to come? Except during school vacations/holidays, rush hour traffic is terrible.
Dave
Road Wizard:
There is a list of travel corridors in Ada County that the ACHD Commission determined should get priority placement in road-widening project planning. Most of the priority corridors are now built, funded or moving forward in some fashion. They include Ustick Road, Ten Mile Road, and the Meridian Split Corridor.
Locust Grove wasn't on that list, but Meridian city leadership now wants that road prioritized as well, so ACHD is giving Locust Grove higher status.
ACHD's "Integrated Five-Year Work Plan" for years 2018 to 2022 has plans for designing the look of the future Locust Grove. The sections between Victory and Overland roads, and Fairview Avenue and Ustick Road are planned to expand to five lanes.
Dear Road Wizard: A few months ago, stop signs were installed at the corner of Camelot Drive and Freemont Street. They have never painted lines on the road, and people are still not stopping! There were temporary signs for a while alerting drivers to the change, but they are now gone. Hopefully, lines would draw the needed attention to the new stop signs.
Barbie
Road Wizard:
White "stop bars" aren't painted at the stop signs because the signs are temporary. Markings are best for permanent applications, since they are very difficult to remove. Stop bars aren't a requirement, but they do help emphasize that a stop is required.
The stop signs were installed as a way to lessen the impact of potential cut-through traffic on Camelot and Freemont during the nearby Cole Road/Fairview Avenue intersection reconstruction.
Work will continue for a few months. After that, the temporary stop signs at Camelot and Freemont will be taken down. It may be time to request increased police enforcement, but it's up to residents to make that call.
Dear Road Wizard: I called ACHD and reported sunken asphalt on Janeen Street headed north off of Victory Road. Contractors cut across the road and when they filled it in, the asphalt sunk on both sides of the road, creating a dangerous situation. I haven't seen any work to fix it. Also, the stop signs that ACHD put in several years ago on Janeen at the intersection of Malad Street are placed on the wrong road! The majority of traffic travels north/south on Janeen. There are two heavily frequented businesses at the end of Janeen that generate a lot of traffic on that street. It would be nice to get the stop signs moved to Malad.
Jennifer
Road Wizard:
ACHD received a call about the sunken asphalt and the repair was made.
As for the stop signs, they were placed in the intended locations back in 2008. Traffic observations showed that locating the stop signs on Janeen made the most sense because Janeen dead-ends shortly on the north side of the intersection. Malad also dead-ends to the east, but the distance is greater.
This is an industrial area with low traffic volumes. Even if Janeen has more traffic than Malad, it's not enough of a difference to justify stopping the stopping on Janeen.
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