Little traffic, much confusion

The intersection of Electric Boulevard and Crest Avenue in Electric City was never perfect, and the city has considered its fourth change to its stop signs in three years. 

The cross sections of streets that make up the intersection never quite lined up. 

Electric Boulevard, which runs southeast to northwest, lines up.

However, the section of Crest Avenue that runs down a hill from the southwest, comes into it in an off-kilter, caddy-wompus way in relation to the other forks of the intersection.

That and a small hillside next to it create a blind spot for drivers coming from the southeast on Electric Boulevard. 

When they stop at the stop sign and look to their left at the downhill Crest approach to the intersection, they can't see oncoming traffic.

This wasn't such a problem when the intersection was a four-way stop, but currently it is a three-way stop, with no stop sign at the downhill approach from Crest.

The blind spot was always a blind spot, but the oncoming traffic in the blind spot used to stop at the intersection; now it passes on through, making the blind spot more dangerous.

The intersection used to be a four-way stop, but in 2019 the stop sign was removed from Crest Avenue.

Then in 2021, with Electric Boulevard considered a "main arterial" of the city, as explained by Mayor Diane Kohout, the stop signs were removed from Electric Boulevard and the one removed from Crest Avenue was put back in.

This created an issue with a school bus route that travels down Crest Avenue, with bus drivers having difficulty stopping at the stop sign on Crest. So in the summer of 2021, that stop sign was removed again, and stop signs placed back onto Electric Boulevard, helping the school bus as it comes down Crest but increasing the danger of the blind spot for those traveling from the southeast on Electric Boulevard.

At their Oct. 12 council meeting, the city discussed the intersection situation.

Having been denied a grant to survey the intersection to fix the blind spot problem, the council declined to pay for a survey with city funds and to leave the intersection as is. 

Kohout, who travels through that intersection herself with some regularity, noted the problem of the blind spot and said that, although there haven't been collisions, there have been near-misses.

Councilmember Brian Buche suggested placing a curved mirror as an option to compensate for the blind spot and allow drivers to check oncoming traffic from the southwest on Crest.

"That is one of the worst intersections in these towns," Buche, a UPS delivery driver, said.

Posting signs that warn about side traffic was also suggested.

Steve Nelson, the city's engineer, warned the council about the importance of sticking with a decision. 

"Whatever you decide to do, it needs to stay that way," he said. "No matter how it's laid out, people are creatures of habit. The longer it stays that way, the more used to it they get." 

Kohout explained to The Star that the city's attorney, Katherine Kennison, advised that changing the intersection again, such as by placing a stop sign back where it was on Crest Avenue, would confuse drivers and could cause liability issues for the city were an accident to be caused from the confusion.

Another change to the stop signs would require public meetings and more before it could take place.