Traffic alert
New signal on Charles Seivers going live
New traffic signals on Charles G. Seivers Boulevard at Doe Run Boulevard are set to begin full operation on Jan. 3, but were scheduled to start flashing yellow today, Clinton City Manager Roger Houck said Tuesday.
Although the overhead structure with the lights was installed weeks ago, the signals had not been turned on because the contractor was still waiting for the electronic controllers that operate them, which had been on backorder for months.
But as of Monday morning, all of the equipment had now been installed, and the installation crew by midday had uncovered one of the signals and put it on flashing yellow. The signal was then covered up again.
Houck said they will be left flashing on “caution” during the next 14 days to get motorists used to the idea of having signals at that intersection, then they will be switched to full operation.
This follows the activation of the new traffic signals on Hillvale Road at Tanner Lane – the entrance and exit to the Walmart shopping area – on Nov. 22.
Since Walmart opened, that intersection has been somewhat of a traffic nightmare for motorists during busy shopping times, as the traffic on Hillvale had no impediment – either a stop sign or traffic light.
That meant traffic exiting the Walmart area from Tanner Lane onto Hillvale – the only way out except for going through some business parking lots – had to stop and wait for a break in Hillvale traffic before proceeding. There is another entrance to Walmart just a few yards away, but traffic is not allowed to exit there.
But that signal does not address the problem of having only one exit from the city’s busiest shopping area. How to create another exit is still under study.
As for the new traffic lights at Seivers and Doe Run, they were delayed when the Tanner Lane signals went live because the contractor was still waiting for a radio controller to be installed so they could be synced with other signals along Seivers Boulevard.
“That light by Buddy’s (Bar-B-Q) has to sync with the other traffic signals,” Houck said earlier.
The new light became even more important with the mid-November opening of the Tidal Wave Auto Spa car wash on the northwest side of the Seivers and Doe Run intersection.
Both sets of new traffic lights had appeared to be ready to go for weeks now, but both were delayed by the installation of the electronics needed to operate them, Police Chief Vaughn Becker said.
In 2020, Clinton spent $150,000 from a state Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement grant to replace and coordinate the traffic signals along Seivers Boulevard from Interstate 75 to improve traffic flow.
“Progressive” traffic signal coordination was implemented, which was supposed to allow traffic getting a green light to be able to drive all the way through the I-75, Exit 122 area toward Clinton all with green lights, while driving the then-45 mph speed limit. The lights are sequenced using radio signals.
In reality, it’s hard to get the sequencing to work, because the majority of drivers do not drive fast enough to take advantage of the timing of the lights.
Most drivers are completely unaware of the progressive-signal timing concept.
“We’re trying to get the flow where when you get off the interstate and head toward Oak Ridge, you will be able to move through the traffic lights without much delay,” Houck said in early 2020.
Clinton also recently lowered the speed limit on Seivers Boulevard to 40 mph from just east of the Exit 122 interchange to just past Arby’s.