ST. GEORGE – Pushed by the rising progress of the town and security issues for youngsters strolling to high school, two new site visitors lights have been put in on Washington Fields Highway and can come on-line simply in time for the beginning of the college 12 months.
One of many new site visitors lights is situated on the intersection of 3090 South and Washington Fields Highway subsequent to Majestic Fields Elementary Faculty and was activated Monday. The second set of site visitors lights was put in on the intersection of George Washington Boulevard (3650 South) and was scheduled to come back on someday Wednesday afternoon or night.
Washington County Faculty District college students return to high school on Thursday.
As August begins, there may be normally a spike in site visitors accidents, Washington Metropolis Mayor Kress Staheli mentioned in his month-to-month message to residents final week. That is usually attributed to the beginning of the college 12 months, new teen drivers going to high school, and different components.
“You are going to see a rise in foot site visitors,” Staheli mentioned. “Walkers and bikers and scooter riders … You are additionally going to see slightly change in these site visitors patterns: George Washington Boulevard, previously 3650 South, is open and Washington Dam Highway is full, but it surely’s additionally we’re going to see the addition of signalized site visitors lights on Washington Fields Highway at George Washington Boulevard and 3090 South.”
Dad and mom and crossing guards have expressed quite a few issues to the Washington Metropolis Council in regards to the want for site visitors alerts within the space as a number of colleges have populated it and site visitors is getting heavier.
Along with Majestic Fields Elementary, different colleges within the space embrace close by Crimson Cliffs Center Faculty, Crimson Cliffs Intermediate Faculty, and Crimson Cliffs Excessive Faculty.
As of final fall, the situations or “clearances” essential to justify the set up of recent site visitors alerts had not been met for the focused intersections.
Nevertheless, it was introduced throughout a September 2021 Metropolis Council assembly that the required situations to put in indicators at 3090 South had been met. 3560 South, now George Washington Boulevard, was not far behind.
“We have performed numerous assurance research at this intersection,” Mike Shaw, the town’s director of public works, instructed the council on the time. “This time he did adjust to orders.”
Based on the Guide of Uniform Visitors Management Units, an order is “a threshold situation primarily based on regular or common situations that, if discovered to be met as a part of an engineering research, will outcome within the evaluation of different situations. or site visitors components to find out if a site visitors management system or different enchancment is warranted.”
There are 9 warrants that qualify an intersection for the site visitors management sign, Shaw mentioned.
A current research on the 3090 South-Washington Fields Highway intersection discovered three such orders and got here near complying with a fourth.
The 3090 South site visitors lights have been initially scheduled to be put in earlier this 12 months, however have been delayed on account of provide chain points, Metropolis Councilman Kurt Ivie mentioned.
Regardless of the delay, the lights have been put in simply in time.
“We’re very excited to have the sunshine operational earlier than faculty begins,” he mentioned.
The identical former public faculty trainer, Ivie mentioned that the town “takes the protection of youngsters very severely” and needed to be proactive on this regard with the set up of the brand new lights within the space.
Along with the brand new site visitors lights, Ivie mentioned flashing site visitors calming lights close to colleges that now have site visitors lights have been being positioned by Washington Fields Center Faculty on the nook of 240 West and 3090 South.
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