 For this month, there were only two files, a piece regarding
storm sirens, which was posted in LDN on Tuesday, and this one
provided by Snyder on the topic of the downtown traffic signals.
Question: What's up with the downtown stoplights? Why are they
blinking red?
Answer:
The controller
units (the working parts that turn the lights from red to yellow to
green) for the lights at two of the intersections simply quit
working. The parts were shot and gave out. Given the age of the
stoplights, the City can no longer buy replacement parts. We would
have to buy all new controller units.
The lights at the
one remaining intersection where the controller unit still worked
were set to blink red so as to not confuse drivers. We had several
near accidents at that intersection. People would pull up, see a red
light, assume it was blinking like the others, and pull on through
when they should have been waiting for a green light.
Since the City
can't buy replacement controllers for the broken lights at the two
intersections, we will be required to outfit the lights with new
controllers for all three intersections. The estimated cost to
purchase and install three brand new controller units is around
$40,000.
If State or federal
funds were used to purchase the new controllers, IDOT traffic
regulations would require the City to replace the existing light
standards (the actual stoplight poles themselves on the concrete
bases). Those new standards would be flush to the ground and
equipped with break-away bases. If we would be required to do that,
the cost would be approximately $75,000 per intersection.
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Coupled with this
situation is the fact that the City recently received a State grant
to develop plans for the revitalization of downtown. These plans
will include both a traffic study and designs for new streetscape
features (meaning sidewalks, landscaping, seating, and lighting in
public spaces downtown). The plans will include recommendations on
each of the downtown intersections. These recommendations will
answer questions like: How should traffic flow through our downtown?
Should the downtown corners become 4-way stop sign controlled
intersections, or remain stoplight controlled intersections?
Rather than
spending at least $40,000 to "fix" the lights and then having
recommendations that suggest something different than stoplights,
the City has decided to keep the lights blinking until the plan
recommendations are known. The City will involve the public in the
development of the downtown recommendations. We hope to have the
plan complete by sometime in late 2012 or early 2013.
[Text copied from file received]
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