Dear editor,
In a letter to the editor published in the Register on July 27, 2019, I made a case for removing the traffic control light at the corner of Madison and Buckeye as no longer being needed It was originally installed to allow students to cross Madison safely as they went to the Bowlus for classes. My reasoning got zero reception at city level.
With the pending removal of a house to a new location, the light will have to be removed, thus bringing up the subject before the city council again. Councilman Steve French suggested at the Jan. 11 meeting and reported in the Register on Jan. 14 that it is no longer needed for the same reasons I gave. Interim City Manager Corey Schinstock said he “would look at traffic studies and talk with others at the local and state level to determine whether the light can stay down.” When I read that, I thought it would be decided based on a professional technical look by state engineers who would decide whether the light would stay based on their findings.
This brings us to the city council meeting of Jan. 25, when council members decided on feelings and emotions that the light would be put up after the house was moved for “safety concerns.” The mayor stated, based on a very “ambivalent consensus,” “let’s go ahead and put it back up.”
Between the two city limits on Madison and East streets, I count 14 other crossing streets with stop signs. We would not consider putting up traffic lights on any of those corners. So, what is so special about the corner of Madison and Buckeye? The light should stay down and be put up somewhere else where it can be justified using objective reasoning. Let the people on Buckeye Street entering Madison use the stop signs the same as the other 14 crossing streets.
Paul Zirjacks,
Iola, Kan.
