No more children at play signs granted

By Barbara Brown
The North Branch City Council voted Monday night to no longer approve the installation of signs that warn of dead ends on cul-de-sacs or that children may be present in neighborhoods.
According to city engineer Julie Dresel, the council had requested the cityís transportation committee look into the issue.
In the past, the city had generally installed ìChildren at Playî signs if the neighbors paid for one.
The signs cost about $100 each, Dresel said. She said last year the city received five to seven requests for ìChildren at Playî signs.
Despite the number of requests, Dresel said most people do not follow through and pay for the sign installation.
ìAbout 75 percent of the people who ask for the signs do not come back,î she said.
At the 2002 safety and loss control seminar given by the League of Minnesota Cities, the use of ìChildren at Playî signs was discouraged, Dresel told the council.
Several studies have shown that most warning signs do not have the impact residential neighbors may expect.
According to the Federal Highway Administration, the ìChildren at Playî signs should not be used because it gives the impression that it is legal to play in the streets.
The outreach committee of the North Central section of the Institute of Transportation Engineers (NCITE) says the signs give parents and children a false sense of security, promoting the idea that the sign will encourage drivers to slow down where a sign is present.
There is no evidence to show that the signs have any impact on a driverís behavior, according to the NCITE.
Alternatives like speed bumps and decreased speed limits often are suggested when signs are not an option or are proven to not work.
While speed bumps have a higher rate of impact on driver behavior, they cost $3,000 to $5,000 to install. But cost is not the only factor in the decision to not put them in neighborhoods.
The city does not install speed bumps in residential neighborhoods because plows must be able to navigate the streets without risk of the damage that can be caused by speed bumps, Dresel said.
Reduced speed limits are tricky because residential speed limits are set at 30 mph by the state. A municipality may reduce the limit to 25 on streets that are one-half mile or shorter.
Dresel said the city will continue to hear peopleís traffic concerns, but the option for sign installation will no longer be offered.

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