Palm Springs residents concerned about stop signs in neighborhood

Nate Israelson moved to the Andreas Hills neighborhood in South Palm Springs almost 3 decades ago.

“It was all fields at one time. and we were just the third house in our development,” Israelson said. “But, it’s growing up.”

That’s why Israelson said he’s concerned about a couple of areas in his neighborhood.

First, new stop signs added to the intersection of Marigold Circle and Bogert Trail.

The other being the intersection of Murray Canyon Drive and South Palm Canyon Drive.

While there is a stop sign here at the end of Murray Canyon, there is no stop sign on South Palm Canyon Drive.

Israelson said this could be a concern with more drivers expected to hit the road soon, with the season about to start.

“You don’t see a car coming north on Palm Canyon, you can’t see them, you start, and all of a sudden there’s a car, and you have to hit your brakes fast,” Israelson said. “You’ve got to be exceptionally cautious going through that intersection.”

But city leaders said they’ve looked at the intersection, and it does not call for a stop sign.

“The warrants or the need for an all-way stop are dictated by whether you have the same volume of traffic on each street,” Palm Springs City Engineer Marcus Fuller said. “So you’re not holding up traffic on the main street, just for a limited side street.”

City officials like Fuller said it will continue to look into the area, while Israelson said he hopes to not see any accidents soon.

“It’s very difficult to see traffic coming on Palm Canyon when you’re stopped at Murray Canyon,” Israelson said. “And I think it’s an accident waiting to happen.”

Fuller said another requirement as to whether stop signs can be considered is after 5 accidents have occurred within a 12-month period.

He said that particular intersection of Murray Canyon and South Palm Canyon is not known as one to have lots of accidents.