Council discusses adding stop sign to Hollywood Boulevard

Drivers on Hollywood Boulevard could soon see an additional stop sign, which would be located at the La Prado Place intersection.

This would be the third stop sign on Hollywood Boulevard, which is a half-mile stretch of road off of U.S. 31. The intersection has seen three car accidents in less than 12 months, said Councilor Jennifer Andress at the Sept. 14 Public Safety Committee meeting. Councilor John Hardin had a car accident there a few years ago.

“John and I have spent a lot of time in the neighborhood and knocking on doors,” Andress said. “It is a concern. There are tons of kids going to school there. It’s a dangerous intersection. I’m ready for a stop sign there.”

There are not typically high volumes of traffic at this intersection, said Clark Bailey, a representative from Kimley-Horn. But the intersection does see a constant flow of a few cars.

“I didn’t get the crash data, so we’re kind of going off anecdotal (evidence),” Bailey said. “But there is some guidance there as far as crashes there in the past 12 months that are preventable with an always stop.”

His team also looked at the possibility of traffic backing up to U.S. 31 if another stop sign was placed on Hollywood Boulevard. 

“I took (the results) and tripled them,” Bailey said. “It still didn’t reach the Shades Cahaba driveway that’s closest. … So I don’t see that as a concern to me right now.”

Bailey said at the Sept. 14 meeting that he supports a stop sign at that intersection for the use of increasing turning safety at that intersection.

Andress voted Oct. 12 to carry this item over while Bailey has a chance to review crash data and check that it matches the anecdotal evidence he received.