Arlington Heights resident prevails in stop sign crusade

For almost two years, Arlington Heights resident Kevin Stumph tried to get a four-way stop sign at Campbell Street and Dwyer Avenue.

He wrote a letter but the village's engineering department turned him down. Then Stumph appealed to Village Manager Bill Dixon who denied his appeal.

So Stumph and about 10 of his neighbors took their case to the group with the final say on the issue -- the full village board. After hearing from most of the neighbors, most trustees sided with Stumph and backed changing the intersection from a two-way stop to a four-way stop. The final vote will take place on Dec. 17.

"It's dangerous and now is the time to fix that intersection," said Stumph.

Stumph lives on the 1100 block of West Campbell Street. He sent his first letter to the village's engineering department in October 2006. In response, police officers monitored the intersection from October 2006 to March 2007 and found the average driver's speed was about 29 mph. The speed limit on the street in 25 mph.

They turned him down.

In March 2007, Stumph appealed the engineering department's decision to Dixon, who also turned down the request.

Village officials didn't back this idea because simply adding a stop sign doesn't slow down speeders and often creates more problems than it solves, Dixon said.

"Drivers who stopped but didn't think they needed to, will speed up mid-block to make up time," he said. "There's also added noise and pollution."

Trustees felt differently on Monday.

"Personally, I believe we need a four-way stop sign there," said Trustee Tom Stengren. "We've been hearing from residents about this for years."

Village officials passed out fliers to about 80 surrounding residents, telling them about Monday's meeting. A handful emailed the village, saying they were opposed to the change. However, everyone who spoke at Monday's meeting was on Stumph's side.

Kate Schraeder lives near the intersection on Harvard Avenue. One time, Schraeder got out of her car to help a group of kids cross the street. She often has to stop traffic to cross the intersection with her three small children.

"I'm so excited," said Schraeder after the meeting.

Brendan Foley also lives near the intersection.

"Once, on a perfectly nice summer day, a cop was writing a ticket after an accident and then all of the sudden another accident happened right behind him," Foley said.

Stumph's stop sign request is the first appeal to the Arlington Heights village board since 1997, Dixon said.

If the full board approves the stop sign, a temporary one will be installed for six months while village engineers continue to study the intersection.