Starting at noon Friday, Ironton traffic will flow a little differently.

Tuesday, April 17, 2001

Starting at noon Friday, Ironton traffic will flow a little differently.

Due to a memo sent from city engineer Joe McCallister, city officials have opted to change traffic flow patterns at two of the city’s intersections.

The first section tapped for change will be at the intersection of North Second and Railroad streets. Currently, this is a three-way intersection with North Second comprising two of the three branches. McCallister said the intersection will become a three-way stop at the intersection. Currently, traffic does not have to stop on North Second but there is a stop sign on Railroad Street, he said.

When the change is made, all streets entering the intersection must come to a stop. McCallister said this is to increase the safety of pedestrians who are attempting to access the commercial business area from surrounding residential sites.

Mayor Bob Cleary said the change at the intersection stems from growth of businesses in that area of the city. He said a petition drive was started by some senior citizens wanting a traffic control device as a way to safely cross the street in that area. He said the city agreed that a control device was needed to ensure the safety of people trying to patronize city businesses.

The other change planned for the city’s streets is at the intersection of South Ninth and Spruce streets.

A four-way stop is currently at this intersection, but the city will change this to a continuous flow of traffic on the northbound side of South Ninth Street. Eastbound traffic on Spruce Street will have a continuous right turn as well, but will be required to yield to northbound traffic on South Ninth Street when going straight or making a left-hand turn. Southbound traffic on South Ninth and westbound traffic on Spruce will be required to stop and yield to all oncoming traffic.

The city hopes that changes made to these intersections will accommodate the dominant traffic flow on those streets.