The image prepared for by Laura Slusher from Purdue University Indiana Local Technical Assistance Program. Slusher conducted a traffic study that identified the need for a three-way stop at Edge O’ Town Condos and West Main Street. Residents of the area have voiced a concern that signs should be placed at the intersection of Helmsburg and Jackson Branch roads instead.
Plans to install additional stop signs at the west end of Nashville are being reevaluated after community members brought up concerns about the proposed placement.
The Nashville Town Council voted on Dec. 15 to add stop signs to the west end of Main Street, after a traffic study that was conducted showed that more signage was needed in the area.
Discussions for additional signage began in September when residents of Johnson and Main streets said there was a need to provide more safety for drivers and pedestrians.
It was suggested at the September town council meeting that a three-way stop at Helmsburg Road, Jackson Branch Road and Main Street would allow a safe option for drivers and pedestrians in the area.
Speed bumps were also suggested, but ultimately decided against.
In November it was determined by Town Council Attorney Wanda Jones that in order to install a stop sign, a traffic study would need to be completed.
Through Purdue University Local Technical Assistance Program (LTAP) representative and engineer, Laura Slusher, visited between the November and December town council meetings and conducted a traffic study of the area.
Slusher ultimately determined that a three-way stop was needed in the area of Edge O’ Town Condos and gave the town a written report and designed a photo.
Going out of town, Slusher suggested a stop sign on either side of the road before travelers reach Edge O’ Town Condos. Drivers would stop at Jefferson Street, Johnson Street and just before Jackson Branch Road before they leave town.
Under this proposal Edge O’ Town would also have a stop sign installed for those exiting the complex. Drivers coming into town would have a stop sign once they reach town limits.
Former town council member Nancy Crocker said in December that if a problem were to arise with Jackson Branch residents turning left and coming into town then council could remove the signs and work with the county to move the signs down onto Helmsburg Road.
Town Manager Sandie Jones said following the December meeting that she hoped to have the signs up in their places in March.
At the Jan. 19 town council meeting, longtime residents of Jackson Branch Road addressed their concerns with the proposed placement.
Ken and Carol Birkemeier, Jackson Branch Road residents, spoke against the placement of the stop signs at the Jan. 18 town council meeting.
The Birkemeiers have lived on Jackson Branch Ridge since 1978 and Ken told the council he estimates he has traveled through the Helmsburg and Jackson Branch Road intersection about 40,000 times.
He told the council that he appreciated the need to reduce the speed of those traveling on Helmsburg Road and to improve the intersection and entrance into town.
Ken also said that in addition to the residents of Jackson Branch and Jackson Branch Ridge roads, traffic includes Brown County residents who pick Jackson Branch over Helmsburg Road.
Traffic, he said, also includes delivery, service and trash trucks, as well as tourists not realizing they’re leaving town and do a U-turns into Jackson Branch.
Tourists also use the road to visit the historical marker on Jackson Branch Road, to patron studios during art tours and include visitors on motorcycle and bicycle rides, Ken said.
Ken told the council he had measured the distance from Edge O’ Town Condos to Jackson Branch to be about 50 feet, about half of what Slusher’s report had indicated.
“A car turning out of Jackson Branch would not be able to complete its turn if two cars or a delivery truck were at the new sign on Main Street,” Ken said.
He also said that trucks, such as trash collection trucks, traveling west on Helmsburg Road must swing into the eastbound lane to turn onto Jackson Branch Road.
“With cars at a stop sign, they will be forced to wait for clearance to be able to negotiate that turn,” he said.
“The placement of the stop sign creates a more dangerous situation for your neighbors to the west than now exists for the town. We need to work together with the county to improve the situation. … You’re currently just shifting a poor situation and making it a worse one for others.”
Ken did not propose a different plan to the council, but said he was open for a working task force and that he believes a three-way stop at Jackson Branch Road, Helmsburg Road and West Main Street would be a safer option.
Carol said that she has not seen traffic backed up trying to get out of Edge O’ Town and that she does not believe there is a real problem there.
She also said she had spoken with neighbors and began an online petition against the three-way stop at the condos. As of Feb. 3, the petition had 158 signatures.
“I just want you to know we’re not the only ones that live and travel on Jackson Branch,” Carol said.
“It does make sense to put a three-way stop at Jackson Branch. In turn I think that will help the people turning out of Edge O’ Town.”
Tana Martin Nelson lives in the condos and said at the meeting that her concern was not the stop signs, but the overall speed at which cars travel.
“Not only am I a walker-runner, but we have the track team, they use Jackson Branch Road, they use Helmsburg Road, they come running in almost every evening to do practice,” she said.
“It’s highly used, we’ve had accidents, people knocking off car doors. That’s my concern, is the speed and what we’re going to do.”
Town council member Andi Wilson said that she had visited the intersections and believed that signage would be better placed at Jackson Branch Road.
“I think it’s necessary to have something that stops traffic there because there’s a lot of people who walk their dogs, walk or stroll,” she said.
“It makes it safer, it forces you stop. There’s not enough room to really just speed up to the next stop sign. I think it’s going to solve a lot of the issue. That would be something that would be a good idea to entertain.”
Town council member David Rudd said he had already spoken with Brown County Highway Superintendent Mike Magner and he said they would be willing to work with the town.
Town attorney Wanda Jones said that another traffic study would need to be conducted.
As of Feb. 3, a request was sent to Magner and the Brown County Commissioners to partner with the town, according to Town Administration Manager Phyllis Carr.
Carr said was not known at that point if this item would be a topic of discussion at the town council or commissioners meetings on Feb. 15 or 17.
