Letter to the Editor: Tell me again why stoplight is needed at intersection of 25th and Broadway

When the traffic signal at the 25^th and Broadway intersection appeared years ago, I said to myself, “Wow! Someone important must live in this neighborhood!”

After all, it’s only another block or two to find an already-established place to cross Broadway. My synopsis of the necessity of that stoplight has not changed through the years.

Muddy River News reported after the March 17 City Council meeting, “After receiving so many negative comments and questions about the light’s necessity, the city requested a study” from the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT). The study “analyzed traffic volumes, crash data and public feedback” for 90 days. 

IDOT recommended the lights be removed, due to standards established by the Manual on Uniform Traffic Devices. The Federal Highway Administration’s research indicates that “removing unwarranted signals can reduce crashes, eliminate red light violations and reduce intersection wait times.”

The city’s Traffic Commission even recommended the lights be removed.

Quincy’s City Council voted unanimously to keep the traffic lights at the intersection.

I had to read this sentence twice while reading MRN to be sure I read it correctly.

Nearly 25,000 vehicles frequent Broadway daily. The volume of traffic at the 25th Street intersection — roughly 250 to 750 cars daily — was found to be like several other streets that intersect with Broadway without stoplights, such as 9^th, 14^th, 16^th and 28^th Streets. This means traffic passing through the 25^th Street intersection is 1 percent to 3 percent of the total traffic on Broadway.

Would Kelly’s or The Tower experience a growth in sales, like Culver’s did, if they were to receive a stoplight at the 28^th and Broadway intersection?

Roughly two-thirds of vehicle crashes that occurred in the vicinity of the light in the last five years were found to be “intersection related.” Half of those crashes were rear end collisions. Removing the stoplight at 25^th and Broadway was expected to create a potential 70 percent reducton in crashes.

Quincy vehicle drivers in general do not yield to pedestrians attempting to cross streets as do drivers in other cities (including Chicago). Perhaps respecting walkers would reduce the amount of time pedestrians spend crossing the 25^th and Broadway intersection. Should we install another traffic light on Broadway at 16^th Street so pedestrians can cross?

The cost of removing the stoplight was determined to be around $40,000 (Quincy would have paid between $10,000 and $20,000 of the costs, as estimated by Engineering Manager Steven Bange. Installing new signals will cost 10 times more than the cost of removing them (Quincy is expected to contribute an estimated $46,000, plus yearly maintenance costs of $1,620.)

The stoplight at Broadway and 25^th impacts almost the entire population of Quincy and many drivers from the surrounding areas, not just the one to three percent of drivers on 25^th Street.

Drivers turning left onto Broadway from 25th experienced an average wait time of 60 seconds during peak traffic hours. Drivers navigating the intersection of 24^th and Harrison experience wait times of 7-10 minutes during peak traffic hours (my personal experience when Harrison Street is not impacted by construction.)

In an informal survey of 40 minutes of nonpeak traffic time, cars executing left turns from the stop signs at Broadway and 25^th yielded these results: Six of the seven vehicles (including one school bus) experienced ZERO wait time (85-plus percent of vehicles crossing the intersection.) One vehicle waited for 12 seconds before completing its left turn. (Yes, I did this survey myself.)

Was the decrease of 10 percent in sales growth reported at Culver’s more connected to winter weather (from October to early March) than owner Lindsay May’s hypothesis that the lack of the stoplight at 25^th and Broadway caused this? Is this a personal interest taking precedence over the public at large?

Bange said on WGEM, “The people have spoken.” Who were these people who spoke, and where did they speak? Were more people in attendance than the 25^th Street neighborhood, the owner and employees of impacted businesses, and their friends and families? I, for sure, knew nothing of the opportunity to offer input on the stoplight. 

Tell me again, would you please, why the City of Quincy needs a stoplight at the intersection of 25th and Broadway.

Deb Meservey
Quincy, Illinois