New stop signs are being placed at the Spring Meadows neighborhood in Mount Vernon.
According to Mount Vernon-Lisbon Police chief Doug Shannon, the new stop signs were requested from residents of the subdivision due to speeding vehicles and drivers failing to stop at the intersection of Sixth Street and Asthon Place and Spring Meadow Drive Northeast.
“This intersection is near a curve and used as a crossing spot for the walking trail, as well as an identified stop for students to be picked up by a school bus in Mount Vernon,” Shannon said. “I support making the intersection of Sixth Street and Ashton Drive Northeast a three-way stopped intersection.”
There is an already existing stop sign on Spring Meadows Drive at the intersection of Ashton Drive N.E. and Sixth Street N.E. The two new stop signs would be placed along Sixth Street N.E.’s intersection and on Ashton Drive N.E.
Residents Melissa Anderson and Amber Moore were among the two who had asked for more traffic control at the intersection. They noted a need for drivers to slow their speeds since it’s a bus stop and is also utilized by people on the recreational trail.
“This winter when the streets were slick, people were driving that route and then quickly having to slow down and turn left at the bus stop at the corner of Spring Meadows and Sixth Street has been really unsafe and scary to watch,” Moore wrote. “I have to tell my daughters to make sure they stand more up the sidewalk, north of the corner a bit, to give them a better chance to get out of the way, if and likely when a car slides too far and accidentally up over the curb on a snowy or icy day.”
Anderson said 20 kids live in a six house radius in the area, and parents have witnessed significant increase in times children or others have almost been struck by vehicles going out of control fast.
“I hope the city adds a safety measure before someone gets killed,” Anderson wrote.