Drivers In the 504 Celebrate the Return of the Erstwhile Stop Sign at Louisiana and Freret

I like to ponder the mysteries of post-K traffic control. The stop sign at Louisiana and Freret reappeared at the end of last week, hopefully putting an end to (I would even settle for reducing slightly) the near-death experiences, with my life flashing before my eyes as vehicles go careening around my little Accent, I have been subjected to on a daily basis.

The story so far: Katrina knocked out the light. There was a stop sign nailed to the telephone pole at the intersection. Then the light came back, as a blinking red. Then it resumed full traffic light functionality (joy! even the blinking turn signal worked!)... only to go blank again last month with the unfortunate burning down of the corner store. They put two of those stop signs on legs in the street, making it once again a four way stop. Then someone stole the stop sign on legs from Louisiana. One might ask, what sort of a person would steal a stop sign on legs from a major intersection with a dead traffic light in the ruins of a post-apocalyptic city? What the hell do you do with a stop sign on legs? Seriously, I used to ask these questions. Then I read in the Times Picayune that people are actually stealing these stop signs to put in their own neighborhoods. Like their little crap dead end street is more important then a major intersection, and they believe they have the right to decide this. Ever since the disappearance of the stop sign, driving to work has been a video-game-like experience.

I mean, if I was going to proceed through an intersection that used to have a light, has always had a light, and clearly has a GIANT DANGLING DEAD LIGHT hanging right over the top of it, I would at least slow down and make a pretense of doing the manuever I like to call the "New Orleans Rolling Stop." I would certainly not plow through at speeds exceeding 30 miles per hour. But I have seen this happen every day since the hijacking of the stop sign.

The best day-- I am not making this up-- was when I drove through on my way to work, and there was a cop car parked on Louisiana Avenue right by the intersection. I thought, "Oh, they must be there so people will quit running that stop sign." No sooner had the thought wafted through the inner coils of my brain than a truck breezed through the intersection at 40 mph, causing me to slam on my brakes. The cop just stared and smoked a cigarette. And it was a real cop, too! Not even one of those empty cars the NOPD has been parking around the city post-K to make it look like there are cops here (I am not making this up either).

Anyway, the stop sign at Louisiana and Freret has returned after several weeks absence. This time they nailed it to the pole. Woe to he who pries it off in the dead of night. Unless his street has a car eating pothole.

Wait! Where's my picture of the car eating pothole? We desperately need a visual! Oh, I found it:

Tags: post-katrina, nola, new orleans