Ephrata to examine traffic

City reacts to woman's complaint of speeders

EPHRATA - The city will examine traffic on six intersections in Ephrata after a complaint made by a resident of First Street Southeast.

Stormie Baltz asked the city council for a stop sign on the intersection of First Street Southeast and F Street Southeast. Baltz said at the Aug. 13 meeting she wanted the city to do something about people speeding.

City Administrator Wes Crago said he understood Baltz's concerns, but the state guidelines don't call for a stop sign at the intersection.

Crago added he suspects drivers wouldn't expect a stop sign at the intersection and may speed past it, while pedestrians would expect traffic to stop.

The council reacted with a three-part approach. First they gave Baltz signs telling drivers there are children in the area and a radar gun to track the speed of the traffic. They also plan to move the police radar trailer onto the road.

"We're going to continue to work with the schools, and we're going to do some data collection in six areas that are similar," Crago said.

Crago said he wasn't sure when the traffic study would be finished.

Councilmember Heidi Schultheis said the city will try to reach out to the schools to develop safe routes to school. If a road is designated as a safe route to school, the school could apply for a state grant for signs and the city could receive matching funds.

"We've had some dealing with the schools," she said. "It's unclear how many of the schools we've contacted … We've encouraged (city staff) to be more involved."

The council asked the police to try to patrol the areas more often. Schultheis said, the police do try to patrol the area.

"We've taken some initial steps," she said. "We're going to try to form a plan for the future."