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Letter to the editor

City applying 3 R's to beef up traffic signals

By RITA FARLOW
Published July 4, 2007

The new dark brown, mast arm signals popping up on some downtown streets are part of a larger project to improve state roads within the city.

Built to resist winds up to 130 mph, the new signals replace span wire signals, which are easier to damage in high winds.

"They're much more hurricane-proof than what we have now, " said Bill Foster, traffic signal coordinator for the city. And less storm damage means less maintenance, which the city is required to fund, said Tom Gibson, the city's engineering director. The new lights are part of a "triple R" project to "resurface, rehabilitate and retrofit state roads, " Gibson said.

Paid for by the state Department of Transportation, the $9.5-million project includes the repaving and remarking of some downtown state roads. It will also pay for improvements to sidewalks and crosswalks and countdown pedestrian signals.

The mast arm signals will have lighted street signs, which will be more visible during rain, and for those unfamiliar with the area, Foster said.

Slated for renovations are Third and Fourth streets between Fifth avenues N and S, and Fourth Avenue N between Third and 16th streets.

The improvements are similar to other DOT-funded changes along 66th Street N in the Tyrone area and along the downtown area of 34th Street in the past few years.

Later this month, crews will begin grinding and repaving the roads. To minimize disruptions, most of the work will be done after 7 p.m., but some road closures will be necessary, Gibson said.

Resurfacing should be finished by September, and the entire project should end next March.

[Last modified July 3, 2007, 20:41:57]