Letter in response to Mechanic Street crosswalk

(The following Letter to the Editor has been submitted by Steven Olson, in response to a Letter to the Editor from Peggy Willie (http://www.decorahnews.com/news-stories/2017/02/15848.html):

While I agree with Peggy Willie that the current crosswalk sign is DANGEROUS, as the owner of the house closest to the Mechanic Street sign, I must disagree with flashing lights as the solution (for the love of my beauty sleep and Lord knows I need it!)

First of all, improving the safety for children and adults crossing Mechanic Street is a great idea and I support it completely, within reason.
 
For the last few years, I've shaken my head at how motorists have "interpreted" the crosswalk sign.  I've seen it all, from the good people who watch carefully and come to a stop when somebody is at the side of the road, to the people who stop at the sign no matter what (it does say STOP after all--who reads the fine print?), to the people who just blow by (and I've stood there and waited and waited and waited for cars to actually stop because of the sign).  I've even seen multiple times where a car from one direction will stop, but the car(s) from the other direction do not (this really scares me!).
 
My biggest concern has been that it gives children (and adults) a false sense of security.  I keep telling my wife and child "don't EVER count on the cars ACTUALLY stopping." (yes I'm sure they are getting really tired of me saying this, but it scares the bejeebers out of me!)
 
I've had very mixed thoughts about the sign since the day it was installed.  Because it is SO close to the entrance to our driveway, it would have been really nice if the city would have talked to us, out of a token nod to the inconvenience that it has created getting in and out of our driveway.  Every time someone backs out of our drive to go north we have to carefully weave around the sign (I've seen multiple people plow right over it while backing out of our driveway, and most of them were sober!), and it's hard enough timing a back out on Mechanic without a sign in the middle of the area you are backing into!  Add to this nuisance the snow that piles up around the sign in the middle of the road because the snow plows divert around it and the obstacle to get out of our driveway to head downtown gets bigger and bigger! 
 
Speaking of hitting the sign, our friends, family and, yes, even myself have put a notch or two into that sign (mostly inadvertently, I think, perhaps subconsciously passive-aggressively), BUT what really makes me roll my eyes are the times that I've watched the school buses take a right turn from Vernon on to Mechanic and have no choice but to plow into it or jump the curb!

While I'm venting my angst about the sign, I mentioned the people who stop no matter what, and a lot of large trucks do this, perhaps because they want to err on the side of safety (can't blame them), but it adds to the amount of brake and starting noise in front of our house.
 
Okay, thanks everyone for letting me get that out!  With all that said, you can tell that I've wrestled a lot with whether the sign does more harm than good.  I NEVER want to be the first on the scene of a car vs. human at that crosswalk (based on our proximity, the odds are terrifying), nor do I want to live the rest of my life thinking about the kid or adult who actually believed the sign would stop a vehicle, while the person driving was texting, eating an ice cream cone and looking for a lit cigarette under their seat (really, stranger things have happened). 
 
So what's my solution?  Well, let's look at the options...  Flashing lights when somebody needs to cross at all hours of the day?  Yikes, I'm for public safety, but I really might go (really) crazy and nobody is going to protect me from myself.
Do we really need a flashing light at every crosswalk in town?  I think it is really important to think about why this crosswalk has been deemed so sign-worthy?  Of course, it's because the school kids use this crosswalk (if other people want a really safe way to cross Mechanic, they can take their chances at the Mechanic Street/Broadway stop light).  Many children use our sidewalk past the scenic creek to get to Carrie Lee and the Decorah Middle School (they always have--there was even a trail under the bridge before the bridge was removed, but I don't think the city is going to tunnel under Mechanic at this point).  So, based on my observations, the added importance of this crosswalk is all about keeping kids extra safe as they are going to and coming home from school.
 
Okay, so what is the best way to keep the school children safe while crossing Mechanic Street (especially during busy morning traffic or bad weather conditions)?  My suggestion would be that it is such a busy (sign-worthy, after all) crossing that it needs an official school crossing guard.  If we are really worried about the safety of our children, let's not leave it up to mechanical chance (oh, no pun was intended, but that was terrible) that someone will actually notice a small child entering the crosswalk.  Likewise, let's not create ANY form of false hope for kids or adults during other times that cars are guaranteed to stop (especially from both directions) just because a small sign tells them to do so.   Yes, large flashing lights would be more effective than the current sign, but as the person who has to live next to them, I've got to push for an even better way (and I'm guessing my neighbors might have a say too, BTW it's not just children who use that corridor a lot, last call at the bar brings enough "loud" voices without adding a flashing light to help announce their presence). 
 
So, I really believe the crossing sign needs to go and school crossing guards should be stationed (I have no idea how that is coordinated).  Granted I have conflicts of interest regarding our driveway issues (again I know city hall's number, so I could have called), but my highest primary interests really are public safety and especially the kids.  I've witnessed WAY too much confusion, and that is what really worries me about that sign.
 
Finally, (yes I'm almost done, but this topic was way too literally close to home to not chime in) I've noticed in the winter time that the piles of snow on our side of the crosswalk (I can't help it, the snow has to go somewhere on each side of our driveway and sidewalk) have gotten so tall (at times) that it could potentially block a driver's visibility of a child even entering the crosswalk, another really great reason to just station a human there and not build false hope the rest of the time.