A common complaint about some traffic engineers is that they are overly focused on moving as many vechicles as fast as possible, often to the detriment of the quality of life in the neighborhoods through which those vehicles travel.  There is a perceived arrogance that engineers are unwilling to listen to input from lay people, no matter familiar they are with the streets and traffic in their neighborhood.

This story from the Northeast News about the traffic circle at Benton Boulevard is the perfect example of why Public Works sometimes gets this bad rap.  Even though the engineer was probably right about the stop sign situationn, the way they handled it was totally inappropriate and just made matters worse.

Northeast News: City removes stop signs from Benton Circle