Politics & Government

Downtown Traffic Revision May Take Awhile To Catch On

Some drivers are sticking to familiar patterns despite recent traffic revision at the intersection of Mill Avenue S. with S. 2nd Street.

Some drivers are sticking to familiar patterns despite a recent traffic revision at the intersection near the fire station and the .

A city public works crew made the changes last Wednesday, which included the removal of two stop signs—one on each direction of Mill Avenue S. at the intersection with S. 2nd Street—and switched the overhead blinking lights from red to orange.

Two stop signs remain, one on each direction of S.2nd Street, heading into and out of the Renton Library and 200 Mill building parking lots.

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Despite the changes, and a few bright orange, "Traffic Revision" signs, about half the cars driving through the intersection stopped during a 10-minute period on Friday afternoon.

Metro buses and city vehicles were among the vehicles that obeyed the new signs and drove through the intersection without stopping along Mill Avenue S.

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The city periodically studies traffic patterns, said City Communications Director Preeti Shridhar. In this case, they found that the stop signs were slowing people down too much, and causing a traffic backup.

"Bottom line," she said, "this is not needed at this location."

In years past, more people travelled through that intersection when City Hall was located in the 200 Mill building, she said.

Shridhar expects the new traffic flow may take a bit of getting used to.

"People will eventually forget [the stop sighs] even existed," she said.

 

 


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