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Traffic Control
The City of Inver Grove Heights is responsible for operating and maintaining all City roads, traffic signals, pavement marking and trails. This section provides guidance for safety on city streets for drivers, bicyclists, and pedestrians.
Traffic Control Committee
The Traffic Control Committee is made up of City staff and provides technical guidance, direction and process to City Council and departments on addressing traffic control-related issues or requests. The committee reviews issues including traffic congestion or flow, speed control, parking, sight distance or obstructions, traffic control and pedestrian safety.
The committee meets quarterly and consists of members from the Engineering, Public Works, Public Safety and Community Development Departments. If you have a concern, please complete the Traffic Control form and it will be reviewed by the Traffic Control Committee.
Frequent Traffic Control Requests
Crosswalks are constructed to guide pedestrians to safe road crossings. They do not generally result in lower speeds, and markings alone do not decrease the number of crashes. Crosswalks may be removed by the City's Public Works Department if they are in a location that does not increase pedestrian safety. Crosswalks are typically not installed in residential areas as these roadways are characterized by lower traffic volumes and speeds. Characteristics of these roadways with the presence of homes, driveways, parks, mailboxes, children, pedestrians and bicyclists should alert drivers to potential pedestrian activity within the neighborhoods.
All residential roadway intersections are potential crossing locations and drivers should expect to see pedestrians regardless of whether crosswalks are marked or not. Crosswalks are generally not installed on high volume, high speed or four (4)-lane roads without additional safety measures.
See Pedestrian Safety and Bicycle Safety pages for more information.
Installing stop signs has not been shown to reduce crashes. Unwarranted stop signs often have low stopping compliance rates and lead to unexpected behavior from drivers.
Stop signs are not installed to decrease speeds. Studies have shown that installing stop signs does little to decrease speeds and drivers often speed up after a stop sign to make up for lost time. Due to these safety concerns, stop signs are not installed at intersections within residential neighborhoods unless warranted through an engineering study.
Learn more on the Stop Signs page.
Alternatives
If speed is a concern, neighborhood traffic calming is a more appropriate solution. Please see the Traffic Calming page for more information.
If sight lines are an issue, determine the cause. If possible, removing the sightline obstruction is generally preferred before installing a stop sign.
Speed limits are set by state statute and all agencies must follow the statute. Changing the speed limit does not result in lower speeds. Motorists drive at speeds they find comfortable based on the characteristics of the road. Lowering the speed limit also does not decrease the number of crashes, since decreasing the speed limit may result in a larger variance in vehicle speeds, often resulting in higher crash rates.
Learn more on the Speed Limits page.
Warning signs such as "Children at Play" have not been shown to be effective in changing driver behavior or reducing crashes. These signs could cause a false sense of security by suggesting that playing in or near the street is safer. Animal Crossing signs also do not give direction to change driver behaviors and have not been shown to be effective.
Since these warning signs do not represent an issue that will be seen consistently, they are often ignored, and they are not enforceable messages, the City does not support installing these warning signs.