Title: Burlington Reverses Bridge Traffic Signs After Resident Backlash Burlington city officials have reversed course on a traffic control experiment, removing stop signs from a one-lane bridge after residents complained about increased delays and safety concerns.
The city reinstalled yield signs at the Queen City Park Road bridge in late January, just two months after replacing them with stop signs. The bridge spans train tracks and serves the lakeside Queen City Park neighborhood, Red Rocks Park visitors, and employees at nearby businesses including Edlund, Burton Snowboards, Rhino Foods and the Green Mountain Transit depot.
“This is a reactive request — we want to make sure the public’s happy,” said Caleb Manna, associate public works engineer, during a January 21 Public Works Commission meeting. “We’re not aware of any safety issues with going back to a yield sign; there were still no crashes. We believe it will function as intended.”
City officials originally installed the stop signs in November after the closure of Pine Street’s south end diverted approximately 1,200 additional cars daily through the area. They worried the yield signs could confuse drivers unfamiliar with the one-lane bridge configuration.
But the community quickly pushed back. A neighborhood survey collected 79 responses, with 80 percent favoring the return of yield signs. Most respondents said stop signs did not improve safety and created longer vehicle queues.
“It seems like a great deal of people disregard the stop signs and just cruise through,” one survey respondent wrote. Another noted that “traffic moved through the yield signs much more quickly” and “the stop signs can cause long lines of cars.”
City officials observed these problems firsthand, according to Manna, watching traffic backups form while some drivers ignored the stop signs entirely.
Commissioners praised public works staff for responding to community feedback. Jacob Davis joked about his own role in the traffic situation, saying he had avoided the bridge to prevent adding to congestion.
“Now with the yield signs, I guess I can cross again,” Davis said.
The seven-member commission voted unanimously to approve the change back to yield signs.
“I think the results of the survey speak for itself,” Commissioner Daniel Munteanu said. “I know public works is not a democracy, but it seems like the residents and the users of this right of way might get what they want. I feel like [the] yield sign is totally fair, as we learned at the November meeting.”
Officials expect traffic to decrease once the Champlain Parkway fully opens, potentially resolving the congestion issues that prompted the original sign change.
