Dickens Street Gardens HOA

It came up at our meeting tonight that the neighbors are very concerned about the traffic and the accident potential at the corner of Noble & Weddington due to a dangerous 2-way stop. Many vehicles cruise at speeds in excess of 45mph down Weddington Street toward Noble and barely stop because they assume that there's a stop at Noble. There is not, in fact, a stop sign on Noble and therefore, several accidents occur at this intersection. We, the residents, want a 4-way stop sign put at this intersection. Does anyone have any alternative suggestions or experience in getting stop signs put up? Your input is appreciated!

4-WAY STOP @ NOBLE & WEDDINGTON

Requesting a formal Neighborhood Traffic Management (NTM) Plan starts with a letter from a neighborhood group like ours or a petition signed by at least 10 residents. This is sent to the local LADOT office. The letter should include a detailed explanation of the traffic problem.

That's the easy part. You will probably wait at least 90 days for a response, that is, if you are not immediately denied because the request lacks merit. You'd be surprised at the number of cranky homeowners who'd like to prevent anyone and everyone from driving on ''their'' street.

Typically the DOT's next step is to install a sensor in the intersection to count cars (these sensors look a bit like garden hoses and extend into the street). The results of this study will be used in evaluating the request.

In cases where the terrain may be hilly or otherwise unusual, they may install a temporary ''yield'' sign.

Incidentally, I've heard that unless there have been recent fatalities, there is very little hope of a request is made in this way being granted. There are periodic reviews of traffic patterns anyway, which explains why one day out of the blue, a traffic light may sprout up where a stop sign was yesterday.

So you don't think I'm a complete pessimist: as an alternative or interim suggestion, our local police department may be more than happy to monitor the intersection for a few weeks in an attempt to catch chronic speeders. A sign saying ''SPEED CHECKED BY RADAR'' often works wonders in slowing people down...

More on Stop Signs

Today, my in-laws were denied their request to install a stop sign at their corner in Tarzana. There have been four recent accidents, damage to parked cars, and some property damage. (Their neighbor's mailbox gets crashed into on a regular basis. It's actually quite comical - every few months these poor people install an even more massive brick and concrete column for their mailbox, and somebody always rams right into it.)

Anyhoo, one of the reasons their request was denied is that even with the accidents, there have not been police reports filed that indicate a continual problem.

Does anyone know whether there have been police reports filed for any shenanigans at our corner in question?