A Willowdale resident threatened to sue the parish over the lack of a 3-way stop sign at Willowdale Boulevard and East Heather, leading Councilman Shelley Tastet to have signs installed temporarily.
However, due to safety concerns, Tastet had the signs taken down again two days later.
The reason for the threatened suit stems from an accident that occurred at the intersection nearly two months ago. In that case, an Avondale man, who Tastet said was speeding through the neighborhood around midnight, hit a tree and was ejected from his vehicle near the intersection of the two roads.
“There was an ordinance in 1984 that called for a 3-way stop sign at East Heather and Willowdale Boulevard,” Tastet said. “After the signs were installed, somebody cut them down with a hacksaw.”
For years, nobody bothered to replace the signs, but Tastet was recently confronted by a Willowdale resident living near the crash site who asked that the signs be reinstalled.
“He told me that if the signs weren’t installed, the parish could be liable if another accident occurred,” Tastet said. “He was threatening a lawsuit if they weren’t put back.”
At that point, Tastet asked the parish to reinstall the signs and they were put up on June 9.
“I’m going to introduce it at the next council meeting and I want the issue to be opened up to public discussion after that,” Tastet said. “I told the parish to put up the signs in the meantime, but we want to see what the people want.”
The sign surprised many residents on Tuesday, some who were ticketed after driving through the intersection without stopping.
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