Notice some Tacoma intersections lack stop signs? Don’t worry, drivers: That’s by design
The rules of the road are pretty simple. Green means go, yellow means slow down, red means stop. But certain Tacoma intersections don’t have any stop signs or traffic signals, leading to confusion among some drivers about how to proceed.
One social-media user tried to get to the bottom of it in an August 2023 Reddit post.
“Is there a reason that a lot of small neighborhood streets in Tacoma don’t have stop signs?” the person, who said they’d recently moved to the North End from Texas, asked in part.
Other commenters apparently had the same question, with one writing: “I wonder about this all the time and it confuses me still why people aren’t getting T-boned constantly.”
The News Tribune looked into the matter nine years ago, but it’s worth revisiting for the city’s newer residents.
Why do some Tacoma intersections lack stop signs?
Sign-less intersections aren’t unique to Tacoma. They can be found in other cities, including Portland and Seattle, as well as states like Iowa and Minnesota.
Brennan Kidd is with the city’s Public Works Department as the traffic engineering and safety section division manager within the transportation division.
The city abides by federal criteria when it comes to installing stop signs, Kidd noted. Only putting signs where they’re needed helps decrease costs for taxpayers and can boost efficiency for drivers.
There’s a term for such crossings, too, he explained: “uncontrolled intersections.”
“Most intersections in Tacoma are on low-volume residential streets, and most of these are uncontrolled (about 60% of the City’s total number of intersections),” Kidd said in an email to The News Tribune.
If you encounter an uncontrolled intersection, the Washington driver guide and state law are clear on what to do next. Yield to cars that are already in the intersection as well as to anyone approaching from the right, Kidd said. Always stop for pedestrians using crosswalks.
Make sure to proceed with caution at intersections, he said. Never assume that another vehicle is going to slow its roll — even at roadways that do feature stop signs. Some drivers ignore markings when they think they aren’t necessary.
The News Tribune reported in 2015 that roughly two-thirds of the intersections in Federal Way also are uncontrolled.
“Really, they haven’t been much of a big deal, except mostly for people who come out from back East and say, ‘My God, that must be dangerous,’” a Federal Way city traffic engineer said at the time.
“Even in professional circles, I’ve seen that question come up, and it’s just like, no, that really works just fine,” he continued. “State statutes spell out what to do, and they teach it in driver’s ed.”
What about associated costs?
Tacoma counts nearly 5,000 intersections, Kidd said. Of those, some 2,700 feature a pair of residential streets.
Adding new, shiny-red octagonal signs, which have a lifespan of about 15 years, costs money.
“There are certainly cost implications of installing stop signs,” Kidd said, “but these do not influence the engineering assessment the City performs when looking at an intersection.”
What’s the price tag for a single post and sign? Typically about $350 in labor and materials, Kidd said, in addition to other maintenance- and engineering-related expenses.
Stop signs can also cost drivers when it comes to gas consumption and vehicle wear-and-tear, he said.
The city mainly looks at safety when assessing uncontrolled intersections, he said. Stop signs are installed whenever “there is a warranting condition in support of providing additional information drivers may need to safely navigate the intersection.”
Do uncontrolled intersections affect safety?
Whenever a driver sees a stop sign, they should bring their vehicle to a total halt. Kidd noted that it’s the case regardless of whether there are other travelers around.
Putting signs where they aren’t necessary can contribute to a greater amount of emissions, delays and road noise, he said.
One local commenter on the August 2023 Reddit post wrote that some wrecks had occurred at unmarked intersections in their part of town.
Still, Kidd said, the number of accidents at uncontrolled intersections is typically quite low. Speeds and traffic volume in residential neighborhoods are far less compared with arterial roads.
“Because of this, the number of crashes will generally be higher at locations with stop signs because they are installed at locations that already have higher speeds and volumes,” Kidd said.
There’s evidence to support that idea. One Minnesota newspaper in 2015 analyzed crash data and reported that collisions were much more likely to occur at controlled intersections.
Residents with traffic-engineering questions can visit cityoftacoma.org/cityqa, call 311 from within the city or, if phoning from someplace else, dial 253-591-5000.
