Intersection at Maple Street and Razorback Road converted to four-way stop

A work crew from the Arkansas State Highway and Transportation install a new stop at the corner of Maple Street and Razorback Road.

Photo: Dustin Bartholomew

The three-way stop at the intersection of Maple Street and Razorback Road is being converted into a four-way stop today (June 28).

A work crew with the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department today installed a new stop sign for westbound traffic on Maple Street, and will also install an electronic message board on Maple to alert drivers of the new stop sign.

The streets at the intersection are part of Highway 112, and are under the jurisdiciton of the state.

According to a news release issued today, the change is being made to eliminate one of the more confusing intersections in town.

From the news release

Anyone who has driven around the University of Arkansas campus has, at some point, witnessed the confusion that the three-way stop can cause, especially for new arrivals. It’s not unusual to see a driver west bound on Maple stop at the intersection, assuming there is a stop sign. At other times drivers stopped at one of the three stop signs pull out, assuming the oncoming driver has to stop.

The release also cited a complaint by Tami Trzeciak, a fiscal support specialist with the Department of Mathematical Sciences who was involved in an accident at the intersection on March 9, as a reason to revisit the situation.

“Arkansas Hwy.112 at the intersection of Maple/Razorback Road has long been a ‘local knowledge’ experience,” Trzeciak wrote in the complaint. “Others from out of town, visitors, new university students, etc., are ignorant or unaware that the intersection is not a four way stop. This is a continuing and unnecessary traffic hazard. Accidents occur here with regularity but no changes have been made to the signage or to the intersection.”

Highway department engineers studied the intersection and determined that there was enough traffic – vehicles, bicycles and pedestrians – and enough potential danger to warrant putting in a fourth stop sign.

A variable message board will be in place for 30 days to alert drivers of the change.