Clear Lake council approves DOT program application to make short-term improvements at 27th Avenue South and Grouse Avenue

CLEAR LAKE — The Clear Lake City Council this week approved making an application to the Iowa Department of Transportation for funding necessary to implement some recommendations from a traffic study of the intersection of 27th Avenue South and South 8th Street/Grouse Avenue on the southern edge of the community.

Back in November, the council approved an agreement with SEH Engineering of Mason City to help submit a request to the DOT for funding for the study at the intersection, which has seen a number of accidents. That study was completed earlier this summer.

Becky Schwab of SEH Engineering says the majority of the accidents have been where one vehicle is broadsided after someone runs the stop sign. Schwab says better signage is one of the recommendations from the study.  “The signage in the area seemed to be inadequate. Some of it was placed too closely or maybe just needed upgrades or replacement. That actually ended up being the biggest focus of these short-term recommendations is just to do some of those signage improvements. A lot of these tend to be lowest cost improvements that can have a fairly significant impact. So, things like sheeting upgrades, adjusting the placement and spacing of some of those signs are kind of the basic things we’re looking at here.”

Schwab says a flasher on top of the stop signs as well as the addition of rumble strips should be considered as well.  “They list it both as a short-term and a long-term solution. You can do temporary rumble strips to see if you like those, and if it ends up that those rumble strips are not working or we don’t like the effects of those, they can create some noise for anybody who lives nearby those, those could be removed later. If you do find that like you like those, you can either leave those in place or do a permanent rumble strip.”

The council unanimously approved the application to the Iowa DOT’s Traffic Safety Improvement Program.