Razorback and Maple Intersection Becomes a Four-Way Stop

The unusual three-way stop at the four-way intersection of Razorback Road and Maple Street, near Reynolds Razorback Stadium, is about to change. Thursday morning, June 28, a work crew from the Arkansas State Highway and Transportation Department will put up a new stop sign for westbound traffic on Maple, making the intersection a four-way stop. The crew will also install an electronic message board on Maple to alert drivers to the new stop sign. The message board will stay in place for 30 days.

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

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 people new to campus. It’s not unusual to see a driver westbound 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. 

That’s what happened Friday, March 9. Tami Trzeciak, a fiscal support specialist with the department of mathematical sciences, was driving westbound on Maple, went through the intersection and was hit broadside by a car driven by a first-year freshman from out of state. Trzeciak received relatively minor injuries in the incident, but her car was totaled, and she decided to ask the highway department to do something about the dangerous situation.

"Arkansas Hwy. 112 at the intersection of Maple/Razorback Road has long been a 'local knowledge' experience,” she wrote in an email to the department. “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.

"I would appreciate a response that addresses … my concerns for my family's safety and that of my neighbor citizens, as well as students & visitors. A proper response, at minimum, would be a prompt correction to the inadequacy of the signage at this 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.

Trzeciak is delighted: "Rather than getting all stressed about it, it is good to know that a properly worded and courteous note of concern — to the people who could directly do something about it — does yield positive and timely results."