Photo provided by Rebecca Weaver

Rebecca Weaver recently contacted Decaturish to ask about something odd she noticed on East College Avenue where it intersects with South McDonough and South Candler streets.

“I live near Agnes Scott and drive through the intersections on College that have the new traffic lights (College and Candler, College and McDonough). But they don’t work, and in fact, they get in the way of seeing the old ones, depending on where one is waiting for the light to turn,” she said. “Does Decaturish know why the new ones don’t work? It struck me the other day that the new lights have been there, and not working, for quite some time now.”

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Deputy City Manager Hugh Saxon provided an explanation.

“These were installed as part of the construction of the railroad crossing improvements at Candler and McDonough,” Saxon said. “Late last fall, the Department of Transportation gave the city permission to install additional protected left turn signals to several legs of each intersection. This involves installation of additional signal heads as well as preparation of a new signal timing plan for each intersection. College Avenue is a state route and the new plan must be approved by the Department of Transportation. Once this is done we will be able to install the additional signal heads and start up the new system. We believe the new signals and the additional protected left turns will improve safety and convenience  for pedestrians, bicyclists and motorists and will be worth the extra time required for completion.”

So the ball is in Georgia Department of Transportation’s court, for now.

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