When will the city actually put safety first?

A few months ago a neighbor, assuming I knew how to get things done in city government, asked me, "Who do I need to bribe to get a four-way stop at Philco & Clawson?"

Below is Clawson Rd, which intersects with Philco. There are STOP signs on Philco, but not Clawson.

Alas, I told him, endemic petty corruption is one of the few problems the city of Austin lacks, although there is no shortage of builders who would happily pay handsome bribes to shave a few months off the site plan process.

I didn't know exactly what my friend should do, but another neighbor who works for the Transportation & Public Works Department did: request a traffic study for a four-way stop through 311. So that's what he did.

I hoped that my friend's efforts would be successful. The intersection is one of many in my neighborhood that feels like it should be a four-way stop. I think drivers who are unfamiliar with the neighborhood may assume it is, which means that if they're stopped on Philco, they assume the car barreling down Clawson is going to come to a stop. Just as importantly, the lack of a four-way stop simply contributes to high speeds on Clawson –– it's not uncommon to see people going 40 mph or so on what is a neighborhood street.

A month later, I had reason for optimism. The city placed rubber tubes on both sides of the intersection on Clawson that track the number of vehicles and their speeds.

A few weeks later, we still didn't have a four-way stop.