Indiana county looks to replace yield signs
CARROLL COUNTY, Ind. (WLFI) – Yield signs may soon be a thing of the past in Carroll County.
Right now, Carroll County has nearly 400 yield signs. But if county officials have their way, that number could drop to zero.
With safety being his top concern, Carroll County Sheriff Tobe Leazenby proposed an idea.
“I had approached the commissioners a couple of months back about switching all of our yield signs to stop signs,” said Leazenby.
The switch would cost an estimated $8,000.
Leazenby said funding would come from the county highway or commissioner’s budget.
County commissioners president Patrick Clawson said ditching yield signs is nothing new.
“There’s a trend now to go away from yield signs and go in to the stop signs,” Clawson said. “So hopefully people stop, and look both ways and protect themselves.”
Carroll County resident John Meador said he supports the idea but only to an extent.
“I’d say address it, you know, where the problem is,” Medor said. “And everything else, give it some time.”
The county wanted to phase in the change over several years. But now that’s on hold, after the Indiana Department of Transportation balked at the idea on state roads including the Hoosier Heartland.
“I was recently notified by a traffic engineer with INDOT by email that they are not going to pursue in making any changes at this point,” Leazenby said.
INDOT spokesperson Doug Moats said there’s no reason to change the signs right now.
The county can replace signs on city and county roads, but it must get permission to change signs on state roads.
Moats said further discussion is needed before any sign changes can be made on roads maintained by INDOT.
Leazenby said while the project is on hold, plans are not off the table for the future.
“I still advocate the stop signs all the way around,” said Leazenby. “Anything we can do to increase safety; that’s one of my major goals.”
Clawson added, “It is a safety issue, that’s all it’s about. It’s about trying to keep people safe as we possibly can.”