Agenda - Public Works Committee - 07/17/2007

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CASE # I REQUEST TO POST DEAD END SIGNS By: Steven Jankowski, City Engineer Background: The City recently received a request for the placement of a dead end sign at the intersection of Nutria Street and 168th Lane. The sign requested was for the south leg of the intersection. It has been past practice to post such signs upon request if the end of the street was not visible from the nearest intersection. Again in practice, staffhas usually posted the requested signs since many of the dead ends are located in areas without street lighting where a dead end which may be visible during the day is not during the evening. In addition, the request itself usually indicates some level of need. The Committee may recall that the recent posting of a dead end sign at an intersection in the Rivenwick development resulted in a complaint from a resident who objected to the sign being placed in the right of way adjacent to their property. The purpose of this case is to receive direction on whether the current practice in handling requests for dead end signs should be modified. One possible alternative would be to handle dead end sign requests similar to other traffic signs which are currently handled under the attached Policy Regarding Consideration of Traffic Control Requests. This would require a petition from five or more property owners within 500 feet of the affected intersection and a report from staff. A second alternative would be to allow staff to continue handling requests for these signs as they have been in the past. Essentially this alternative would assign full discretion to staff for the placement of this particular sign. A third alternative could be to allow staff to continue to post these signs at their discretion but to report the intention to place a new sign to the Public Works Committee prior to the placement. This would allow at least cursory review by the Committee and would provide advanced knowledge to Councilmember's prior to. a new sign being erected. Financial Impact: The cost of installing and placing a dead end sign is approximately $150 per sign which would be charged to the public works street sign budget. Recommendation: Because a dead end sign is advisory in nature and has no enforcement consequences, subjecting dead end sign requests to the same standards as requests for stop signs seems unnecessarily cumbersome. On the other hand, additional awareness of new signs being