Politics & Government

Letter to the Editor: Useless Town Stop Signs Are Only Revenue Generator

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What prompted this letter, finally, was the resulting fine and rise in insurance rates as a result of my wife’s rolling stop through one of the myriad stop signs in the Glen Ridge area of Los Gatos.

At the present time, it is strictly a revenue generator for Los Gatos and NOT a traffic calmer as originally intended.

We’ve lived on Madrone Avenue since 1984, and back then, I could drive almost all the way to downtown without stop signs in the way. It was great. Now, a stop sign graces nearly every corner.

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I joked with the town's street painting crews about replacing all these stop signs with appropriately placed speed bumps or humps or even round-abouts if there was room. They rapidly agreed with me, but they also added that the people didn’t want the speed bumps on their street.

As a result, the town has created a massive group of lawbreakers among visitors and residents in the area, as I often see NO brake lights go on these days at many stop-sign corners. Where it used to be only BMW 3 Series that never stopped at stop signs, it is all manner of vehicles at the moment.

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Speeding is a real problem and I have suggested a fix. I’d appreciate your comments.

—By Gary Ashford, Madrone Avenue resident


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