It’s been a week since the two stop signs were put in on Winnequah Road.

My initial reaction was it really ruins what was a pretty nice drive.

I have to admit, I hate the stop signs. But I understand why the locals want these. Still, as some have pointed out, we aren’t supposed to use stop signs for speed control – and that’s exactly what these are being used for.

I will miss the nice drive Winnequah – where you could flow effortlessly through the city, see so many great things.

What are your thoughts on the new signs?

Monona’s intrepid government has been discussing potential ways of slowing down traffic on Winnequah Road.

Our first thoughts are “how bad is the speeding anyhow”. Now, I’m not talking anecdotal comments from the locals – I’m talking about real tracking data about the speed on the road. I say this because what 25 mph speed limit road isn’t full of speeders? No one drives 25 mph. Okay, maybe we’re exaggerating, but seriously, it seems like every other road in a residential neighborhood in every town complains about speeding.

Let’s just say that there is a significant number of drivers that speed on Winnequah – and speed at a higher rate than they might in other places. It is a long uninterrupted span of roadway – no stop signs, no stop lights, no islands, no bump outs (oh, sorry, we couldn’t resist that one). A casual glance does make one believe that the cars do go a bit faster on Winnequah than other roads. So let’s say it’s a fact.

So, what to do about the death race on Winnequah?

The city council has been considering all sorts of things for years – stop signs, stop lights, speed bumps, human barricades, etc. It seems now that they are leaning toward putting in two stop signs – one at Maywood and one at Frostwoods. We have to say – thank God. Not because of the need to curb speeding (we do want that, but it’s just not that fun), but we are thrilled that the council is considering a simple, low cost option. The ‘bump outs’ are a symbol of overkill – overkill that can’t be fixed without significant cost. Many of the other options – speed bumps, traffic lights, islands – all come at a higher costs, and if they don’t work, come at a high cost to remove (or in the case of the bump outs, a constant reminder of our silliness).

We had heard some talk about non-permanent speed bump gizmos, but it appears nothing has come of that.

Our greatest concern about the stop signs will be the herky jerky traffic on Winnequah. Will it just become a logjam? Probably not, but expect it to be the top city in rolling stop violations once the signs are installed. If you’ve ever driven down Gregory Street – which runs parallel to Monroe Street – you’ll know what we mean.

No matter – be prepared to stop – twice now – on Winnequah.