By QUINTON SMITH/YachatsNews.com
Under pressure from residents of West Second Street about the volume and speed of traffic, the city of Yachats will put stop signs at Pontiac Street and install a crosswalk to see if that helps.
Some 15 Second Street residents sent a letter to the City Council in May, saying they were “exhausted” over the amount and speed of traffic on the mostly residential street.
“Since the change of Ocean View Drive funneling traffic one way south from Seventh Street, the amount of traffic dumped onto our residential street has exploded,” their letter said.
The council asked the city’s Public Works & Streets Commission to look at the issue and suggest some possible solutions. The first step, commission chair Linn West told the City Council last week, should be to install stop signs on Second Street at Pontiac Street and paint a crosswalk for pedestrians.
“We didn’t assume this was the final solution,” West told the council. “It’s a first step. We hope the residents will see this as a test.”
The council agreed, voting unanimously Thursday to proceed.
There are numerous reasons how it got this way.
Second Street grew busier after the completion of the Highway 101 improvement project that helps funnel traffic down the street to Yachats State Park. Then last year, the City Council made Ocean View Drive one way southbound between Seventh and Second streets. To get to Highway 101, drivers must continue on Ocean View Drive through the state park — or turn east on Second Street.
The street also narrows dramatically between Pontiac and the state park, leaving much less room for both cars and pedestrians.
Councilor Ann Stott asked if the issues were about pedestrian safety or traffic speed.
Both, West said. The Public Works & Streets Committee believes the new stop signs will force cars to slow, then stop and then restart – making drivers more aware of their speed and walkers.
“It’s basically a test,” he said. “How do we keep pedestrian and vehicles using that same space safe?”
Depending on how the stop signs work, West said the next step could be installing speed bumps that could both discourage and slow traffic.
Yachats State Park is by far the most popular attraction in the city — although streets going to and from it are used by both locals and visitors. In the 12 months from February 2019 through January 2020, more than 140,000 cars entered or exited the park on West Second Street, according to figures from Oregon State Parks and Recreation. A traffic counter at the south entrance on Ocean View Drive showed 256,000 vehicles coming or going during that same period.
In their letter to the city, Second Street neighbors said the traffic has only increased since the council decided to make the north portion of Ocean View Drive one way.
In addition to considering speed bumps, the neighbors also asked the city and state parks to consider an alternative to the sign on Highway 101 directing people down Second Street to the park.
