The City of Independence is clarifying the appearance of new street signs across the City.

 

Recently, the City has installed new signs near several intersections, including over-sized advance “Stop ahead” warning signs. These street signs are a part of a grant-funded safety initiative through the Kansas Department of Transportation's High Risk Urban Roads program.

 

The goal of the program is to, install low-cost safety countermeasures, such as pavement marking and signing, at stop-controlled intersections on local roads that have been determined to be at high risk for traffic accidents.

 

The signs and posts come at no cost to the City of Independence, other than the cost to install them. These countermeasures have been proven to increase driver awareness and increase safety at intersections where they are in use, leading to 10% fewer crashes and 15% fewer nighttime crashes.

 

The program provides signs at intersections that are one size larger than signs that are required by federal regulation; additional signs to warn of the stop and intersection ahead; and the signs are also more reflective, making them more visible.

 

 When the project is complete, these signs will have been installed at seven intersections in the City.