The problem?
Streets need to have two-way traffic lanes for the regimen of 4-way stops to work.
The solution?
Two Way Streets Now.
The benefits of removing stop lights, by Robert Steuteville (Better! Cities & Towns)
A growing number of experts advocate stop light removal to save money, improve safety, make cities more walkable, and boost traffic flow.
… Planner Jeff Speck, author of Walkable City and former Director of Design of the National Endowment for the Arts, is a big proponent of removing traffic signals. Cedar Rapids, Iowa, has eliminated many in the last year based on Speck’s downtown revitalization plan. Four-way stops improve traffic flow because automobiles don’t have to come to an extended stop and wait while signals change, Speck points out. For pedestrians, four-way stops are much better—because every automobile has to come to a complete stop and traffic is calmed.
According to the Cedar Rapids Gazette:
Speck said doing away with most of the downtown traffic signals in favor of four-way stops would make for a “dramatic change” to the downtown. Such an arrangement favors pedestrians — “The pedestrian is king” in the setup, he said — and he said motorists will prefer it because they don’t have to idle at traffic signals waiting for lights to change.
