Lighting the way
Transportation department plans to replace traffic signals at several Nyssa and Ontario intersections
By Larry Meyer
Argus Observer
Tuesday, November 18, 2008 10:50 AM PST
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| Larry Meyer | Argus Observer
Traffic moves along under signals over East Idaho Avenue Monday. The signal light heads, which control left turns, will be replaced, starting next week, by one that will have a yellow flashing arrow to indicate restricted left turns across traffic. |
ONTARIO — Starting next week, the Oregon Department of Transportation will start replacing seven traffic signals along East and West Idaho intersections in Ontario and one in Nyssa, that are designed to move traffic through intersections in a more safe manner with by changing to a flashing yellow arrow rather than the solid green in indicating restricted left turns.
“We’re just replacing the doghouse-style light head,” ODOT spokesman Tom Strandberg said.
The new signal head will use a flashing yellow arrow to tell motorists when they must yield to oncoming traffic before turning left, he said. Signal heads being replaced have a yellow and green arrow but use a circular green light to indicate those drivers turning left must yield. That has been confusing Strandberg said.
Ontario signals to be upgraded are situated at the Intersections of Idaho and Goodfellow Street, the Interstate 84 westbound and eastbound ramps, East Fourth Street, East Second Street and West Second Street. The traffic signal at the intersection of Thunderegg Boulevard, Main Street and Adrian Boulevard in Nyssa will also be changed.
The signal replacement work is expected to take up to three weeks to be completed and will require a final inspection by ODOT’s Traffic Signal Services unit before the yellow arrow is activated, Strandberg said.
The new signals are pretty straight forward, Strandberg quoted Don Fine, ODOT Region 5 traffic analyst, as saying. “The circular red, yellow and green lights are for traffic moving through the intersection, and the new signal has the left turn arrows that are for left turning traffic only,” Fine said. “The flashing yellow arrow means that it’s legal to turn left, but you have to yield to oncoming traffic first.”
However, before the yellow arrow is activated the green arrow will still indicate when it’s safe for traffic to turn.
“It’s a new type of signal,” Strandberg said, and that it has been tested in several across the nation for the past few years. “It meets federal guidelines We’re going to install a lot of them.”
