Wilkes-Barre City council members conduct Tuesday’s work session.
Margaret Roarty | Times Leader
A photocopy of a letter Wilkes-barre City Council member Bill Barrett said was sent to a resident.
Margaret Roarty | Times Leader
WILKES-BARRE — City Council at Tuesday’s work session pulled from its agenda the single item up for discussion: the installation of a temporary stop sign at East Beatty and St. Clair streets in response to complaints from residents about speeding in that area.
Council member Jessica McClay explained that per federal guidelines, stop signs are not permitted for the purpose of reducing speed.
The most recent edition of the MUTCD, published by the Federal Highway Administration, lists specific criteria for when for when a stop sign should be installed and states that, “YIELD or STOP signs shall not be used for speed control.”
According to the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) Local Technical Assistance program, “studies show that STOP signs only reduce speed immediately adjacent to the sign. Many drivers accelerate between intersections to make up for time lost at the STOP sign.”
There are other options for the mitigation of speeding, and PennDOT has traffic calming guidelines.
McClay also said she read over the minutes from the September meeting of the city’s Traffic Committee. Members at the time said they were going to do a speed study on the area and paint some street lines.
McClay said she did not believe that was done yet, so she didn’t “feel comfortable going straight for a stop sign until all resources have been exhausted.”
Initially, the agenda stated council was concerned about traffic on St. Clair Street and the potential for accidents and felt it was necessary to address concerns raised by residents on taking immediate action to reduce speed and protect drivers.
The possibility of a temporary stop sign was raised at the March 13 meeting when several residents complained to council about speeding in that section of Miners Mills.
Anthony Bonavina, who lives on St. Clair Street, told council at that meeting that he’d witnessed drivers going 50 miles an hour down the street. He was especially concerned for the safety of children who live there and regularly play outside.
“I don’t know what you guys are gonna do about it, but something’s gotta be done,” he said, adding that he’d brought this issue up to city officials in the past, and nothing has been done to remedy it.
Council members Mike Belusko and McClay, who previously served on the traffic committee, both pointed out that the PennDOT does not allow the city’s traffic committee to install a stop sign to reduce speeding.
Council member Bill Barrett also lamented at that March 13 meeting that it was very difficult for the officers to enforce speeding violations on city streets because the state does not allow municipal police to use radar guns.
“If you want to talk to anybody, talk to state legislators, the state representatives, and say we need radar for municipal police. It has to happen,” Barrett said.
Councilman alerts residents about donation letter
Also at the meeting, Barrett passed around a photocopy of a letter he said a city resident recently received. The name of the resident was redacted.
The letter claimed to be from the National Police Association in Stafford, Texas, and asks for donations so it could “add your name to our Quality of Life Policing Petition which will be presented to Wilkes Barre City Council Members.”
According to its website, the National Police Association is a nonprofit that “defends law enforcement agencies, officers, their supporters and the public using litigation, communications, activism and advocacy.”
Barrett pointed out that Wilkes-Barre already has a Quality of Life ordinance and also wanted residents to be aware that the National Police Association is not affiliated with council or the Wilkes-Barre police department.
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