Why Are There Stop Signs on Hermosa?

Residents living on and around Hermosa Street were surprised to see stop signs recently appear after the completion of the street improvement project last month.

“You could say it’s a minor issue—and what’s one stop sign? …[But it’s like] stubbing your toe every time you come in and out of the neighborhood,” resident Stuart Morkun told City Council Feb. 15.

Public Works Director Paul Toor says the implementation of the all-way stop at Hermosa Street/Hermosa Place/Hillside Road was supported by a traffic study.

“Based on California standard guidelines … it did meet the warrants. And based on the traffic engineer recommendation, it was included as part of the project,” Toor explained to city council.

“The Layout of that intersection is a little bit odd. Although we did not have any accidents or any major speeding problems or traffic volumes … the site distance was an issue—where you could not see the traffic coming around,” he continued.

Nevertheless, Morkun says "you can see from hundreds of blocks up and down these streets." 

He believes this last-minute change in plans illustrates “how the city allows policy to be dictated by an unknown few concerned residents constantly—and [lack of] transparency in the process.”

Morkun cited the repaving of Marengo as an another example: "The 'few concerned residents' who bought the El Centro condos were able to delay the expansion of the digital entertainment firm on El Centro and Meridian, ..." he explained.

Interim City Manager Sergio Gonzalez says the city typically performs an evaluation process after a stop sign in installed.

And while staff is expected to bring a report of the evaluation back to city council some time this year, Councilmember Philip Putnam insisted he wanted more information—asking how this happened without anyone on City Council knowing about it. 

“I think everybody is surprised to see stop signs go up on a street where there are four houses on one street and five on another,” said Putnam.

Morkun wants the stop signs to be removed, along with any trees or overgrowth obstructing motorist visibility. He also suggests advisory speed signage and pavement markers are installed. 

“Safety measures, which are less intrusive, are available, are preferred—and should be implemented and installed prior to the installation of an all-way stop sign,” said Morkun. 

The Hermosa Street Improvement Project included the repair of damaged pavement on Hermosa Street between Grand Avenue and Hermosa Place. It was designed, inspected and managed by DMR Team, Inc., and cost $198,251.

Patch Asks: Do you frequent this area? Was the implementation of these stop signs necessary? Do you feel the city was transparent throughout the process?