Traffic light will be removed

The traffic signal at the intersection of Flaming Gorge Way and N. 1st E. Street will be taken down.

The Wyoming Department of Transportation switched the traffic signal to flash Monday afternoon, the first step in the signal’s dismantlement.

According to Darin Kaufman, the District Three Traffic Engineer for WYDOT, the signal’s removal is based on several federal regulations and criteria used to determine if the signal is needed. Kaufman said there wasn’t enough street traffic to warrant the signal’s existence. He also said there is also little pedestrian traffic on the street, which lessens the need for a signal at the intersection.

Kaufman said WYDOT’s initial findings were presented to the Green River City Council, which agreed with WYDOT’s decision to remove the signal. Kaufman said the signal will be left to flash for the next week, then will be powered down and the signal lights covered up. After about three months, the signals will be removed, with the poles remaining. Kaufman said the intersection will look like the intersection near the Green River Police Department building, with the poles and lights on top of those poles remaining.

Kaufman is unaware of how old the signals at the intersection are, but said the equipment is old, thinking the signals have been in place for a few decades. He said Interstate 80 has caused traffic patterns down Flaming Gorge Way to change during the past several decades, with less traffic coming to Green River as a result.

“The traffic flows would have been much different,” Kaufman said.

Kaufman said WYDOT will continue monitoring the intersection to see how the change impacts local traffic patterns in the area.

He also recommends drivers to be more careful at the intersection, as the change is expected to cause a small increase in the number of rear-end collisions at the intersection. Kaufman said the collisions are generally the result of drivers getting used to new traffic rules, but the signal change is not expected to result in a significant number of collisions. Kaufman said the Wyoming Highway Patrol and the Green River Police Department will assist WYDOT in monitoring the intersection.

 

Reader Comments(0)

 
 
Rendered 03/13/2024 21:57