If you’re from the age of “way back when,” you’ll remember the Motown music that had us young folks dancing and singing along. Diana Ross and The Supremes had a hit with “Stop! In the Name of Love!” Imagine Diana standing at one of our Herons Glen intersections, extending her hand like a school crossing guard and belting out that familiar tune.
Why? Because eyewitnesses have reported seeing people rolling through or completely ignoring our stop signs! Folks, it’s time to take a closer look at stopping.
Do you know how many stop signs we have in Herons Glen? This could actually be a HGRD Activities trivia question! You might be surprised by the answer, especially if you’ve never stopped to count them. Herons Glen has a total of 100 stop signs, including those smaller signs where golf cart paths meet our streets. We have six locations with four-way stops, one three-way stop, and, believe it or not, one four-way intersection with six stop signs! That’s a lot of red octagons reminding us to do one very important thing: STOP!
Have you ever thought about just how many different types of traffic share our streets, multiuse paths and sidewalks? We have walkers, runners, pet and child strollers, people using walkers, canes and wheelchairs, golf carts, street-legal low-speed vehicles (LSVs), rollerblades, e-bikes, motorcycles, mopeds, bicycles, lawn mowers, cars, trucks, vendor vehicles, landscaping trailers and RVs just to name a few. Folks that’s quite a mix of traffic moving around our beautiful community.
According to the HOA, during August 2026 which, by the way, is considered the off-season Herons Glen recorded 19,775 resident entries and 5,560 visitor entries, including vendors. That’s a whopping 25,335 entries in one month, or about 817 per day!
That’s a whole lotta traffic moving through our little piece of paradise! With so many people coming and going, it’s more important than ever to slow down, stay alert and come to a complete stop at every stop sign.
And that’s why every stop sign matters! A pedestrian crossing the street, a neighbor riding a golf cart or a driver pulling out from a side street may not have enough time to react when someone rolls through a stop sign. What seems like a harmless shortcut to one person could become a dangerous situation for someone else.
A stop sign is not a suggestion! Let’s go back to those good old Drivers Ed classes. Remember learning that a red, eight-sided sign with the letters S-T-O-P means you must come to a complete stop? It wasn’t a suggestion then, and it isn’t one now! A suggestion is an idea put forward for consideration. A stop sign, on the other hand, is a traffic-control device that requires drivers to stop as directed by law. That means no rolling stops, no slowing down just enough to peek around the corner, and no assuming the intersection is clear without stopping.
Some may think that because Herons Glen is a private community, traffic rules don’t apply in the same way they do on public roads. But private roads are not a free pass to ignore safety. Traffic laws and other legal responsibilities may still apply, and the Lee County Sheriff’s Office may respond when an accident or other incident occurs. And if someone from the Lee County Sheriff’s Office visits, you can be assured of an explanation of the stop sign regulation. The bottom line? Don’t gamble with your safety or someone else’s.
So. let’s all do our part! Remember, you’re not the only one on the road. The next time you approach a stop sign in Herons Glen, think of Diana Ross standing there with her hand out, reminding you to stop in the name of love.
Stop for your neighbors.
Stop for our visitors.
Stop for the children, pedestrians, golf cart drivers and everyone else sharing our community.
And, most importantly, STOP FOR YOURSELF!
A stop sign is not a suggestion. It’s a safety requirement and your complete stop could help prevent an accident. Let’s keep Herons Glen a beautiful, safe place to live, work and play. After all, we’d much rather be singing along to Motown than listening to the sound of screeching tires!
