Wyoming Mishap Delays Work On City Intersections

A truck accident in Wyoming is delaying the final installation of traffic lights at four intersections in south and east Spokane.

The intersections include 29th Avenue and Southeast Boulevard, and Altamont Boulevard at Second, Third and Sprague avenues.

Galvanized steel light poles and mast arms for the four intersections were damaged in a collision last month and had to be returned to the Nebraska manufacturer for repair and inspection, city officials said.

Don Ramsey, traffic engineer, said the poles and arms now won’t be installed until next spring.

Meanwhile, traffic lights are operating on span wire hung from wooden poles alongside the intersections.

At 29th and Southeast Boulevard, the city will install 30-foot poles and 50-foot arms above the traffic lanes.

The new poles and signals are going in after the city widened 29th Avenue for new left-turn lanes. About $400,000 is being spent on improvements there.

The new traffic lights at 29th and Southeast Boulevard are being controlled by video sensors, a relatively new technology that detects traffic movements with cameras and a computer.

Timing of the light is automatically adjusted to help traffic flow better and keep backups to a minimum, Ramsey said.

Most city lights are controlled by sensors in the pavement.

That same intersection is being equipped with left-turn signals that allow motorists to turn left after yielding to oncoming traffic on a full green signal, or wait until a left-turn arrow lights up to indicate when oncoming traffic is stopped to allow for protected left turns.

Ramsey said the city recently started installing intersection equipment that allows those two types of left turns because they move traffic more efficiently.

Similar left-turn movements were recently installed for Altamont at Second and Third.

The permanent poles and arms ordered for those intersections were also damaged in the Wyoming accident, Ramsey said.

, DataTimes