This stop sign made sense when there WAS an intersection here, but they dead-ended the intersecting road and left the stop sign. I agree it's confusing, no reason to stop and annoying. I see most people semi-coast stopping, not even full stops. No one has respect for this stupid stop sign.

I agree that the Valley Creek Stop Sign is just a joke but someone could catch a lot of air on that hill without the sign. Why not another wonderful roundabout?? That's always good for mass confusion.

Because of the steepness of the hill, drivers can't see oncoming traffic. For safety, there either has to be a stop sign or a traffic island. A traffic island would be costly and would take much more space. The sign is probably a temporary fix, until the whole road is upgraded.

BJH Woodbury

There are lots of hills steeper than this one around, without stop signs on them. If you can't see oncoming traffic there is a double yellow center line.

I have talked to folks at the state and the county, and they told me the sign does not fall within the state recommended guidelines, but the state or county do not have jurisdiction over the sign as it is a city owned street.

True enough Jr., but those streets are much less traveled. Even at the southern end of Woodlane Dr. in the West Draw, the speed limit is 30, and on the steepest hill CG put in an island.

I'm sure a lot of people have spent a lot of time studying this type of thing, and government regulations/guidelines must apply to.
It just would be interesting to know what the city's guidelines are. The Federal Highway Admin seem to feel that Stop signs should be used to assign right of way at an intersection.
http://mutcd.fhwa.dot.gov/pdfs/2009/part2b.pdf

Although it doesn't discuss the hill scenario-- there's an interpretation from CA guidelines,
which say "STOP signs are sometimes installed to arbitrarily interrupt traffic for speed control. In this case, the STOP sign is intended to be an inconvenience to motorists - trying to get motorists to slow down, or to switch routes. Studies from across the country have, however, shown a high incidence of intentional violations where STOP signs are deliberately installed as "nuisances" or "speed breakers." These studies have also shown that while speeds are reduced in the immediate vicinity of the "nuisance" STOP signs, speeds actually increased between intersections, as drivers made up for lost time. Traffic calming devices, not STOP signs, are much more effective tools. A STOP sign is designed to tell motorists, bicyclists and pedestrians who has the right-of-way. Nationally recognized standards, established by the MUTCD based on traffic conditions and sight distance, should be used to determine where STOP signs should be used."

Here is the reasoning for the stop sign from the City of Woodbury website:

http://www.ci.woodbury.mn.us/engineering/traffic-a-signals/985-valley-creek-road-and-old-cottage-grove-drive-traffic-control

Valley Creek Road and old Cottage Grove Drive traffic control

Updated: June 22, 2009

Cottage Grove Drive was disconnected from Valley Creek Road in fall 2006. This work was part of improvements necessary for the reconstruction of Valley Creek Road in this area. The disconnect was needed to reduce traffic on Cottage Grove Drive and begin establishing traffic patterns in the area. After extensive review of potential traffic control options at the Valley Creek Road/old Cottage Grove Drive intersection, the city decided to maintain the existing stop signs on Valley Creek Road at this location. The stop signs will be removed when Valley Creek Road is reconstructed. The city deemed it appropriate to maintain the existing stop signs at this location for the following reasons:

Limited sight distance at this location
Safe access to and from existing home sites along Valley Creek Road
Based upon these factors, the City Council adopted a resolution on Nov. 29, 2006, specifically to maintain stop signs at this location on an interim basis, until the reconstruction of Valley Creek Road occurs.

The reconstruction of Valley Creek Road had been planned to occur in either 2008 or 2009. However, based on further analysis of the operational need for the project, the city found that the existing traffic volumes do not currently warrant upgrade to a four-lane section and may not for some time. The current hill at the old Cottage Grove Drive intersection is sub-standard, but there have been no crash problems attributable to the vertical curvature. For these reasons, the city has decided to postpone the project indefinitely.

The City Council revisited the stop sign issue when the Valley Creek Road reconstruction project was postponed indefinitely. For the reasons identified above, the Council has decided that the stop signs are still appropriate.

For more information regarding traffic control issues, contact the Public Works Department at (651) 714-3720 or at publicworks@ci.woodbury.mn.us.

Yeah, that's about what I thought, although I didn't know the upgrade has been postponed indefinitely.

Thanks Markgrafs Lake

Moved here a couple months ago. That is the goofiest stop sign location I've ever seen.

Has been fixed.