‘Seems to be working’: Neighbors pleased with city’s fix for south Lincoln intersection

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) — The intersection of 22nd and Lake streets has been a concern for neighbors for years, so they’re glad the city has now made it a four-way stop.

Their worries escalated after a student was hit while riding his scooter to school last year.

After the crash, three different neighborhood associations came together to find a solution.

The Irvingdale, Country Club and Indian Village neighborhood associations wrote letters to the Lincoln Transportation and Utilities Department, which led to meetings and ultimately produced a solution.

“They met with city planners, and they were like, ‘Hey, you know, we need to do something about this,” longtime neighborhood resident Nicole Tooker said.

LTU responded by installing four stop signs, one for each corner.

“The data actually showed that speeding was not an issue on Lake Street or on 22nd Street,” LTU spokeswoman Erika Hill said. “People were confused on who was to go and when.”

She said a four-way stop is the right fix for this area due to its traffic pattern.

The area has a higher volume of cars during school pickup and drop-off times at Irving Middle school and Blessed Sacrament Catholic School, both just blocks away.

“Every single intersection has different requirements and different needs,” she said. “So an all-ways stop isn’t a solution for every single intersection in Lincoln.”

The community said this is an improvement.

“I think it seems to be working,” Tooker said. “I know comments have been positive within the Country Club Neighborhood Association. I know comments are positive within Irvingdale Neighborhood Association. Because we both have been dealing with this for so long, and we just want to keep the kids protected.”

LTU said it’s happy to hear that people feel safer.

“That’s fantastic,” Hill said. “That’s the best thing that we always want to hear.”