New Alby Street Stop Signs, More Approved By Alton City Council

ALTON - The Alton City Council gave their final approval to several items passed by the Committee of the Whole earlier this week, including new stop signs and other traffic safety improvements on Alby Street, property bids and demolitions, and more.

The council unanimously gave final approval to an ordinance placing stop signs on northbound and southbound Alby Street at East 20th Street. According to the ordinance, the intersection at Alby and East 20th Street will be converted from a two-way stop with a blinking yellow light overhead to a four-way stop with a blinking red light overhead. The intersection will also feature LED lights illuminating the stop signs and painted stop lines on the roadway.

While the City Council passed the ordinance without debate on Wednesday, the item was the subject of some discussion during the Committee of the Whole meeting earlier this week. At that meeting, Alderwoman Stephanie Elliott asked if placing two more stop signs at the intersection had been tried and done before. Alderwoman Carolyn MacAfee, whose ward contains the intersection, said additional stop signs had been suggested but never installed. Alton Police Chief Jarrett Ford said he also didn’t recall any additional stop signs ever being at that intersection, and Elliott said she would do her own research on the subject.

Also at the committee meeting, MacAfee asked if measures would be put in place to prevent accidents from occurring due to the new stop signs. Ford replied that there are plans for new signage and to trim foliage back in the area, but said those steps depend on American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding which has not been put in place. Ford agreed to forward all the information he had on the area to MacAfee so that she could write an ordinance approving the ARPA funding.

MacAfee introduced that ordinance at the City Council meeting on Wednesday and referred it to the Committee of the Whole for consideration at their next meeting on Monday, Nov. 6, 2023. Her proposed ordinance also includes traffic safety improvements at State House Square, which has previously been the subject of traffic concerns.

The City Council also gave their final approval to several more items, including several property bids and demolitions which can be read about in this related story on Riverbender.com.

A full recording of the Alton City Council meeting is available at the top of this story, on the Riverbender.com Facebook page, or on Riverbender.com/video.

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