By Karen Gleason
The 830 Times
Del Rio drivers will have to be a little more alert in the weeks ahead as the city will add all-way stops at five intersections, most of them on the city’s north side.
New stop signs will be placed at the following intersections: Agarita Drive and Enchanted Way, Agarita Drive and Quail Creek Drive, Alta Vista Drive and Fox Drive, Stricklen Avenue and Broadview Drive, and East Cortinas Street and Paredes Street.
Del Rio City Council members approved the changes during their regular meeting Tuesday on a recommendation from City Manager John Sheedy.
City Public Works Director/City Engineer Albert Quintanilla explained the changes to the council.
“There are various reasons why we’re doing this. Some of them are from a previous traffic study that was done, and we looked at the traffic study and there’s been changes since that time, especially up on Agarita. There’s a new school there, the walking trail, and so we’re looking at that. Traffic conditions have changed and with the opening of the new school, we’re anticipating there will be a lot more traffic in that area, so we want to make sure we provide safe conditions to our traveling public,” Quintanilla told the council.
“The same thing with Fox Drive and also with Stricklen Avenue,” he added.
Quintanilla then pointed out the fifth location will be East Cortinas and Paredes and asked the council for feedback and suggestions for other locations where stop signs might be placed in the future.
“East Cortinas and Paredes. Why was that done? What’s the problem there?” Councilwoman Alexandra Falcon Calderon asked.
“There’s been a series of small minor accidents, a couple of animals have been run over, and there are residents that feared being hit by vehicles going through that intersection pretty quickly, and the traffic speeds going through there as well, so we want to slow them down a bit going through that area,” Quintanilla replied.
“And these were concerns of the neighbors?” Calderon asked.
“The neighbors, mostly. I’ve gotten calls from a couple different neighbors in that area. One of them lost her dog,” Quintanilla said.
“When did this occur?” Calderon asked.
“This happened roughly about five months ago,” Quintanilla said.
“And the rest of these?” Calderon asked.
“Are because of the previous traffic study,” Quintanilla said, adding his office also checked with the police department to see the number of traffic citations written in those areas.
Calderon said there are still traffic and speeding problems along East De La Rosa Street in south Del Rio.
“It’s been years, and for this (East Cortinas intersection) only to have been five months, I’d like that looked at more closely,” Calderon said.
Quintanilla said his department would look at the reported problems on East De La Rosa, and Calderon added that she has brought up her concerns about the street numerous times, “but nothing’s been done, not even a survey.”
“There’s issues from parking to speeding, and the PD’s been called too many times, and that has not even been looked at,” Calderon said.
Quintanilla pledged he would look at the problems on that street.
“I think what we need to do, councilwoman, is to really make a comprehensive review, look throughout the community and start developing these lists of priorities,” Sheedy added.
Quintanilla said the city doesn’t want to just look at placing more stop signs, but also identify intersections where flashing beacons or traffic signals might be needed.
He added that placing new stop signs is the end of a long process and doesn’t happen overnight.
Mayor Pro-Tem Jim DeReus asked when the new stop signs would be placed, and Quintanilla said they would be up by the end of the week.
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