AHOSKIE – If you are riding through one Ahoskie neighborhood, be sure to stop…from all directions.

Upon action from the Ahoskie Town Council, the local police department is now keeping an eye on traffic at the intersection of Curtis and Stokes streets where stop signs now exist on each corner.

The “four-way stop” was approved by council members on Aug. 13. The signs were installed one week later.

“There was some concern from the residents of the Curtis Street and Strokes Street neighborhood about traffic using those streets as a shortcut to avoid the traffic light at Memorial Drive and Academy Street,” Ahoskie Town Manager Tony Hammond said.

Those concerns were heard by council members over the recent months. One resident of the neighborhood proposed placing speed bumps on Curtis Street in order to slow the speed of the vehicles.

Hammond said there was no stop signs on Curtis Street from Memorial Drive to Camlin Street.

“It’s a straight shot through that neighborhood,” Hammond said. “The council members decided against the speed bumps and opted instead for a four-way stop sign.”

Meanwhile, the Ahoskie Police Department will give motorists using Curtis and Stokes streets some time to adjust to the new signage.

“It’s new, so we need to allow our citizens and others using that intersection a reasonable amount of time to become acclimated to a four-way stop sign,” Ahoskie Police Chief Troy Fitzhugh said. “My officers will observe the traffic at that intersection over the next few weeks to see how they are handling this change.”

The rules of the road as they apply to a four-way stop sign are fairly simple. Motorists approaching the intersection, from any direction, are required to come to a complete stop.

If more than one vehicle is approaching the intersection at about the same time, the one to first arrive has the right-of-way, not unless the first one to arrive is making a left-hand turn and the other vehicle is traveling straight.

If two or more vehicles arrive at the intersection simultaneously, the vehicle to the right has the right-of-way.