For deaf-blind son, dad waited two years for Green Bay to approve four-way stop sign

GREEN BAY — The world was dark and silent, but Ricky held onto the back of a hand, its shape he memorized over 33 years and wouldn't let go of. The hand stopped, so Ricky stopped. The hand moved again, so Ricky moved.

A yank. Then texture: hard and sharp. He ended up with two scabs on his elbow.

Ricky couldn't have known the car that wasn't there a moment ago sped up last month. As his dad, Daniel Johnson, recalled, the driver was on her phone. Their house was just 50 feet away across Eliza Street but his dad decided they'd have more time to cross the road later if they turned back.

Ricky is deaf-blind to the point when he was tested by the University of Kansas, the technician walked out of the room crying, as Johnson remembered. He's considered non compos mentis — "of unsound mind" in Latin and the medical world, unable to testify for himself in the legal world, prohibited from voting in the civic world, and wholly dependent on Johnson to move around in the real world. "Ricky" is also a pseudonym that Johnson requested to protect his son's identity that the Press-Gazette confirmed.

"I can't imagine what it's like being in a dark and silent place," Johnson said, "but sometimes I'll see him smile. A smile now and then, that's my pay."

So, he takes Ricky for morning coffee when the weather's good, like the July 15th morning when Ricky fell.

Johnson believed a few more seconds could have prevented the incident — and those more serious in the future. He first requested a four-way stop at the intersection of Eliza Street and Irwin Avenue to his council member, Bill Galvin, in 2022. Galvin and Jon Shelton, who ran against Galvin for his City Council seat, joined the chorus of neighbors nationwide who've asked for the same thing at one time or another: stop signs that would slow the rate of injuries, accidents and deaths in their communities.

Cities have replied in the same way, from Michigan to California , that those very concerned neighbors would speed up because of their subconscious need to make up for lost time at "unwarranted" stop signs. The accidents would pile on.

Green Bay's Traffic, Bike, and Pedestrian Commission bucked the trend on Monday, approving the four-way stop at the crossroads of Eliza Street and Irwin Avenue against the recommendation of the Department of Public Works headed by Steve Grenier, who said the four-way stop is unwarranted, according to analysis presented to the commission.

Shelton called Grenier the same day Ricky fell.

"It was the most dismissive conversation I've had in a long time," Shelton said, claiming that Grenier told him a four-way stop would make drivers "more aggressive" and that it's a "law enforcement issue," not a public works problem, to make sure Johnson's son is safe.

Grenier denied using the phrase "more aggressive," Shelton's understanding of his comment on enforcement, and Shelton's characterization of the conversation.

He cited anecdotal evidence — as many cities do when citizens ask for stop signs — that suggests unwarranted, unnecessary stop signs cause drivers to brake and accelerate at dangerous speeds . Regarding law enforcement, any individual in the road has the right-of-way and if the car doesn't stop, that's an enforcement issue that engineering and education only support, Grenier said.

"Me putting up a stop sign means the car would violate a second law," Grenier told the Press-Gazette, "but I can't engineer my way out of enforcement. I think Mr. Shelton is making a mountain out of a molehill and placed me as his opposition," he said in reference to Shelton's activism on the matter, going so far as to create a petition . "The engineering doesn't support the opinions Mr. Shelton's come up with."

In the analysis presented at Monday's meeting, David Hansen, a traffic engineer who moved to Madison in 2023 to lead the city's Signal and Lighting Division , studied crash history, traffic flows and vehicle speeds as laid out in the U.S. Department of Transportation's Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices .

The manual is a national standard that determines whether an intersection merits, say, a two-way stop or a roundabout. The second page in its 11th edition claims to prioritize the protection of "vulnerable road users," such as the blind and deaf, and recognizes each intersection has "unique characteristics." Only studies done at each intersection can conclude what kind of all-way stop is appropriate.

Hansen was not limited in the factors he could investigate. The manual allows engineers to consider variables like pedestrian and bicycle patterns in addition to crash reports and road visibility. The guidelines advise engineers to consider "the safety of all road users at that location," cost-effectiveness, and enforcement and education resources before ultimately relying on their engineering judgment to make decisions.

Hansen did not immediately respond for comment.

A deaf-blind person living next to an intersection does not enter into that calculus, according to Grenier.

“That’s subjective," Grenier said. "Why would that change anything? Does a blind and deaf person have more or less rights than anybody else? That doesn’t factor into the warrant analysis."

It's a response that Denise Charlier, president of the Brown County chapter of the American Foundation for the Blind, said she's used to hearing since she became blind in 2014.

"The ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) was put into law because we need special accommodations as our sighted peers to do our jobs," she said. "If we took this gentleman's reasoning and use it elsewhere, why would we get screen readers for our computers? Even if there are rules, it can’t be hard and fast. What would it take, getting this gentleman and putting him in blackout glasses and noise-canceling headphones and say 'Cross the street'? Or someone dying at the intersection?”

Just over 2% of the American population has some level of visual disability . Over 100,000 live in Wisconsin. Those who are legally blind can't read the E at the top of an eye exam, and wearing glasses doesn't help, according to the AFB . Most still have some mobility in their lives with the help of a sighted caretaker, like Johnson, or guide dogs, like Ricky's German Shepherd, Leo, who seemed to prefer being guided on Monday as Johnson trundled him and Ricky in front of city hall to the commission meeting.

"With four alders in this room, I've never seen this much attention in my time as chair," said Daniel Theno, chairperson of the commission, addressing the audience of alders, neighbors and advocates present for Johnson's agenda item, originally sixth in line but moved up to the front.

Communities across the country have found conversations with city government either end in new stop signs or more often none. Alternatives, like curb extensions and raised crosswalks listed in the 28 pages of traffic calming measures on the New York State's Department of Transportation website, are rarely discussed.

"I think Green Bay's better than this," Johnson testified to the commission.

After public comment ended, Grenier added that to imply that he and his department as non-ADA-compliant and unaccommodating of disabled persons would be a "gross mischaracterization" of the work they do.

Theno asked for motions on the matter.

No one spoke.

"Have I shown passion either way, for or against this?" Grenier told the Press-Gazette in an interview before the meeting. "Sometimes people who are passionate about things feel that others should feel the same. I don't think Mr. Shelton appreciated the fact that my job is to be objective."

Johnson had paused when told Grenier's position before Monday, then said, “I think disabled people are a lightning rod. Sometimes people are extremely generous and sometimes they think they’re a bother. There's no in the middle."

He thought back to 1992. Johnson was filling out Ricky's adoption papers.

He wanted Ricky's biological father to come to the courthouse and sign to save Johnson time and money. The only way the father would agree was if he didn't see his son. As Johnson recollected, Ricky sat in another room. The father signed. He turned to Johnson and pointed.

"No contact," he said, and left.

Johnson's eyes were wet like Windex that dripped to the bottom of a mirror and pooled. Grenier saw Johnson's eyes for the first time in Monday's meeting.

Vice Chairperson Kasha Huntowski broke the silence: "This is going to be controversial, but, motion to approve the stop signs."

Seconded by Theno.

"And I think we need to go beyond stop signs," said councilmember Craig Stevens.

Amendments to the motion for painted crosswalks, updated flags on the stop signs, and fluorescence.

Agenda item six passed unanimously.

There was no audience left for the council's regular business. There were no pools in Johnson's eyes. Only streaks, like those left from wiping Windex off glass.

Jesse Lin is a reporter covering the community of Green Bay and politics in northeastern Wisconsin. Contact him at 920-431-8247 or jlin@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: For deaf-blind son, dad waited two years for Green Bay to approve four-way stop sign