Since April of 2017, cross-traffic and pedestrians have needed to enter the intersection of 1st Avenue and Main Street without the benefit of electronic traffic signals after it was decided by city officials they were not needed. Recently, there has been mention of further changes at that intersection.
In a presentation at last Tuesday’s Ferndale City Council meeting, Public Works Director Kevin Renz talked about projects slated for 2019. Included in the list was “First and Main Intersection Improvements.”
Ever since the signals went dark and city crews removed the lights, drivers, pedestrians and nearby businesses have complained about challenges now faced by drivers attempting to make left turns and pedestrians attempting to cross at the intersection.
When asked what improvements the project would include, City of Ferndale Communications Officer Riley Sweeney replied via email with the following.
The City is planning safety enhancements at 1st and Main. Currently we are looking at removing one of the crosswalks there and providing significant safety improvements to the other. We are working with our traffic consultant, Transpo, to finalize those options (as well as the total cost) with the goal of bringing the construction contract before council in the next couple of months so it can be installed Summer 2019.
There have been mentions during Council Committee meetings of the possibility of installing manually activated lights (beacons) on one of the crosswalks across Main Street much like has been installed across Main Street at the Ferndale Library and across Washington Street at Golden Eagle Drive. The crosswalk improvements by the library cost about $110,000 and took about a month to complete.
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