Traffic safety is one of the most frequent concerns I’ve heard from residents since becoming your County Council representative for District 7. I’ve made it my business to travel the District to see what issues can be addressed, and with so many subdivisions, it’s no surprise that so many people are worried about keeping their families safe from dangerous drivers.
If you have a problem with risky driver behavior in your neighborhood, you can be part of the solution by requesting traffic regulations. These are stop signs, speed limits, electronic signals, traffic calming measures and other traffic control devices. Requesting a new traffic regulation requires three steps: petition, County Engineer review, and Council approval.
The process begins by getting a petition signed by residents from at least 15 separate households in your neighborhood, or at least 51% of all property owners within one mile of the requested location, supporting the requested regulation.
The petition is sent to the St. Charles County Highway Department for review by the County Engineer. Following a review and traffic study, the County Engineer may approve or deny the requested changes.
Any regulation that gets approved by the County Engineer will go to a public hearing before the County Council and placed on the consent agenda for the County Council to vote on. Hearing notices are posted on the County’s website and on signs placed within 500 feet of the proposed traffic regulation.
If a petitioner or nearby property owner disagrees with the County Engineer’s decision on a petition, there is an appeal process. All this information can be retrieved on the Highway Department’s webpage under FAQs.
One thing to remember when requesting a stop sign: It is not a tool to be used to slow down traffic. Many times, too many stop signs create a false sense of security, because people think everyone will stop and that is not always the case. The same goes for speed limit signs – people don’t always follow them.
If you are having a difficult time with speeders in your subdivision, you can contact the St. Charles County Police Department and request a trailer that displays the speed limit and how fast the driver is going by visiting sccmo.org/Police.