Category | News

Three-way stop installed, improves West Deck efficiency

Published on October 20, 2009 by Andy Nelson

After two years of lobbying and persuasion from the KSU Public Safety Department, KSU Plant Services and KSU Parking Operations, the Cobb County Department of Transportation (DOT) agreed to install a three-way stop at the intersection of Campus Loop Road and Paulding Avenue, the road leading out of West Deck onto Campus Loop.

Due to the majority of Campus Loop being owned by Cobb County, KSU does not have jurisdiction over this road, and the DOT must make a final approval before any changes take place.

According to Beth Tindel, Assistant Director of Parking Operations, the DOT was hesitant before granting approval for this project because they feared a three-way stop would impede traffic from residents in the area.

On the contrary, Tindel and her colleagues in Plant Services and Public Safety felt that the three-way stop was necessary to reduce speeds along Campus Loop and allow traffic to move quickly through Paulding.

After observing the traffic flow from the West Parking Deck, the DOT agreed that the three-way stop would make the flow of traffic smoother.

The project was approved Sept. 22, completed Oct. 8 and paid for entirely by SPLOST dollars. Tindel reported that the process took approximately two hours and that traffic is now moving much smoother.

“The problems we’ve been having by West Deck have improved by about 60 percent,” said Tindel.

“The main thing was just the volume,” said Lt. Tim Murphy of the Public Safety Department. “This year, there was just so much traffic, both road and pedestrian, that we really needed these extra stop signs. They keep the traffic flowing, they keep Paulding from gridlocking and they allow pedestrian traffic to cross over safely.”

“It’s been a little bit easier because I usually come down the hill [from Paulding]” said Steven Whitton, a senior majoring in sociology. “With the stop sign that was there before, at certain times of the day it would take you almost 20 minutes to get past it, so so far I’ve appreciated it.”

Tindel also said that future collaborative projects include the possibility of a left turn lane into the West Deck from Campus Loop and changing the traffic light timings on Frey Road and Chastain Road.

“I don’t know when they will be approved but [the DOT] was very perceptive. They know we have congestion issues and they’re helping us by watching congestion and traffic patterns. If they can help by changing the light timings and adding a turn lane, it would help the entire area,” said Tindel.