After community confusion about the small stop signs placed on the Church Street bridge, they’ve been taken down.

A draft study by the Department of Transportation recommended the removal of the small pedestrian stop signs citing confusion for motorists on whether they needed to stop, spokeswoman Delaney Tholen said Friday.

Tholen said the study did not provide any explicit recommendations for the pedestrian path instead. There was a recommendation to “consider” installation of signals, she said.

Tholen said that if or when signals do become warranted, KDOT could install them, but it would be a city-sponsored and city-managed process.
Another study would be necessary to prove the signals are warranted, which would be reliant on safety or operational needs. Tholen said the lights are driven by traffic safety and capacity, not by pedestrian use.
Because of how expensive these signals are, they would only be used when the city is at a point where crash rates and poor safety numbers break the threshold and capacity or operation begin failing, she said.
City Commissioner Roberta Lehmann has brought up the stop signs at meetings after hearing questions and concerns from the community. Lehmann had previously asked Public Works Director Branden Boyd about what next steps would be and if a pedestrian crossing sign was a possibility rather than the stop signs.

Assistant City Manager Zack Daniel said Public Works will be removing the posts where the stop signs were until next steps are decided.