As a part of their continued focus on the downtown area of the City, officials have ordered new traffic signals for four intersections.
According to Mayor Justin Nickels, the signals were paid for mostly with State money, as a part of the Signals and ITS Standalone Program (SISP), which leaves only 10% of the cost on the city.
This is extremely helpful, as the city is looking to replace the current, outdated models with some more high-tech ones. “These new signals will have the flashing yellow turn and will have the bars that go over all the lanes because that’s the new state requirement,” Nickels explained. “They will also be able to be programmed easier,” which allows traffic to be slowed down earlier as the bridges on 8th and 10th Streets go up and down.
These new models are rather pricey, with two of them, which were discussed at a recent Public Infrastructure Committee meeting, costing an estimated $503,000. The installation of the signals will result in some changes at the affected intersections. “Those intersections will be shut down for a little while because we are going to have to do a lot of the underground work before winter, and then put the signals up as we can throughout winter,” the Mayor explained. “There might be four-way stops at those intersections this year yet.”
The intersections that will undergo these changes include 8th and Washington, 8th and Maritime, and 10th and Washington Streets, as well as some others.
