I am responding to a specific statement made by Mr. Claude Paquin in his column in the March 25 edition of The Citizen, “Bringing science and fairness to traffic court.”

Mr. Paquin seemed to be debating whether or not the city should’ve installed a four-way stop sign at the Beauregard Boulevard intersection to Apple Blossom Lane and Bates Avenue.

“As there is so little traffic coming from Apple Blossom Lane, which itself needs to stop before entering the intersection, and there is good visibility for the people driving on Beauregard Boulevard, the risk of a collision is at most times very low, and a slow-moving rolling stop would for all practical purposes be safe and sufficient,” he wrote.

Excuse me, what? My family lives in a newer neighborhood off Bates Avenue, and we have witnessed, on many occasions, drivers on Beauregard who don’t slow down at all for the stop sign. Both my husband and myself have almost been t-boned by such drivers.

Mr. Paquin has omitted the fact that there are houses on the opposite side of the intersection. It isn’t simply the short feeder street of Apple Blossom Lane affected by the four-way stop.

When I see a Fayetteville police officer parked in the Apple Orchard neighborhood, I breathe a sigh of relief and feel safer as I make my left turn onto Beauregard from Bates Avenue.

Also, the city recently constructed a bike and walking path along Beauregard, and the intersection in question has a crosswalk from Apple Blossom Lane to the new path.

If every driver does a sufficient, slow-moving rolling stop as recommended by Mr. Paquin, how are those residents supposed to cross the road to the path? Cross fingers and run?

Keep in mind that the speed limit changes on Beauregard Boulevard. The posted speed limit on the north side is 35 mph; however, it increases to 45 mph near the Quail Hollow subdivision.

I’ve walked the path along Beauregard towards Redwine Road, and drivers are at the higher speed limit until they reach the stop sign at Apple Blossom Lane.

My family enjoys both the new path as well as walking in the Apple Orchard neighborhood. Let’s call the four-way stop sign what it really is: a safety issue, NOT an inconvenience issue for drivers.

Carrie Lorfano

Fayetteville, Ga.

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