Stop signs will soon be in place for at least six months at the intersection where an Albert Lea girl was struck and killed in July.

The Albert Lea City Council on Monday unanimously approved installing stop signs at each corner of the Eighth Street and Frank Hall Drive intersection where 8-year-old Sophie Stultz was struck and killed by a vehicle July 2 while riding a bicycle.

Councilors also approved installing stop signs at the intersection of Ninth Street and Frank Hall Drive.

Prior to the council’s approval, Nick Ronnenberg, who has led efforts to install stop signs at the intersections, urged councilors to vote in favor of the resolution.

“We urge this council to vote yes, yes literally to the safety of our children and the safety of our neighborhood,” he said.

Ronnenberg said road studies on the intersection have produced circumstantial results, and claimed Sophie Stultz would be alive if there were stop signs at the intersection.

“Any life we have lost is one life too many,” he said.

Ronnenberg and Sophie Stultz’s mother, Sarah Stultz, lead an organization, Make our Neighborhood SAFE, which wants to install stop signs at the intersection of Eighth Street and Frank Hall Drive and make other safety improvements in the Frank Hall Drive neighborhood.

The organization reached 220 likes on Facebook Monday and organized an online petition that garnered more than 200 signatures for the stop signs prior to the council meeting.

“Though I would have liked to have seen permanent stop signs approved for the intersection, I am pleased the council did not dismiss the idea altogether and instead is going to use the next six months as a trial period,” said Sarah Stultz, who is the managing editor of the Tribune. “I hope this is only the beginning of the conversation about safety in the Frank Hall Drive neighborhood. I and others plan to continue our efforts toward this cause and welcome the continued support of the community.”

Albert Lea resident Kari Fjeldberg, who spoke on behalf of her mother, said cars have constantly exceeded speed limits in the neighborhood.

“I have said for 12 years someone would be killed at the intersection,” Fjeldberg said. “And it happened.”

Third Ward Councilor George Marin said a process needs to be followed for installing stop signs.

It is not fair to assume Sophie Stultz would be alive if a stop sign would have been in place at the intersection, Marin said, noting pedestrians have died at controlled intersections in Albert Lea.

“There has to be a level of responsibility that we take as community members in educating our bicyclists in our community if we are going to be a bicycling community,” he said.

Marin said he sees bike lanes used improperly, which presents safety hazards.

Sixth Ward Councilor Al “Minnow” Brooks said though he supports permanently installing three-way stop signs at the intersection of Eighth Street and Frank Hall Drive, he wants city staff to become comfortable with the idea.

“If it takes six months for the staff to feel comfortable with this … we can come right back after six months and just leave these permanently in,” he said.