Stop signs to be added on Rifle’s 16th Street
Chelsea Self / Post Independent
Anybody who regularly commutes along 16th Street in Rifle will soon be stopping to check out the scenery for a few extra seconds from now on.
Sometime in the next few months, the intersections at 16th and Whiteriver and 16th and Birch will be converted into four-way stops, as approved by Rifle City Council earlier this month.
Mayor Barbara Clifton said the city received input from staff and residents advocating for stop signs at the two intersections.
“It looks like we are going to put in stop signs at 16th Street and Whiteriver and 16th and Birch,” she said at the Feb. 6 city council meeting. “I think in general the concern we had was that it is a safety issue.”
She said that although there hadn’t been a lot of accidents in those locations, a concern had been raised that the intersection wasn’t safe, and people were getting backed up.
Councilman Joe Elliot, who proposed the measure at a workshop before the council meeting, believes the new signs will give drivers the reassurance that somebody will stop, which he expects to help the flow of traffic.
“It should improve traffic flows, and it should allow pedestrian crossings there,” he explained. “It should greatly improve safety and traffic flows.”
He added that the stop signs are even more necessary because of new development in the area.
Clifton added that she thinks 16th Street will become busier and busier in time.
According to Rifle City Planner Nathan Lindquist, two new residential developments will be added near the intersections, and he expects the population increase to make the stop signs even more necessary.
Many students who catch the school bus by the Mormon church must also cross 16th Street. With no pedestrian crossing or stop sign, concerns have been raised for student safety, especially during icy conditions, said Kathy Pototsky, Rifle public information officer.
Rifle Police Chief Tommy Klein said informational signs will be posted around town in the next few weeks advising motorists of the change.
Updates on the progress of the project can be found on the city website, Rifleco.org, and on the city Facebook and Twitter pages, Pototsky added.
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