St. Joseph County Road crews working to replace a traffic signal controller at Ash and McKinley that was destroyed during a crash on Thursday, Jan. 13, say when the stop lights come back on, they may seem a bit off kilter.
Crews are hoping to restore electricity to the intersection and have a temporary controller box in place on Tuesday. T
hey say while the intersection is on the temporary system, drivers will experience a difference regarding the signals and flow of traffic. Where as before, overhead cameras detected vehicle presence and sent the data to the controller to cycle to the appropriate signals, and traffic cycled based on existing real time conditions, the temporary system will operate on a timing system.
This means drivers may have to sit at a light even though there is no traffic present. There is no estimate on when a new, permanent, controller will be in place.
The release from St. Joseph County is below:
During the evening hours of Thursday January 13, 2022 a traffic accident occurred at the intersection of McKinley Highway (Old U. S. 20) and Ash Road (County Line Road). Through the course of this accident the traffic signal controller cabinet was knocked completely off of it’s foundation and severely damaging the internal components of the cabinet. During the incident the electrical service to the controller cabinet was severed, requiring disconnection of the electric service to the cabinet and as a result, an interruption in service to the traffic signal system leading to the current configuration of a 4-way stop.
St. Joseph County is working to re-establish the electrical service so that a temporary operating system can be installed. The temporary system will not be available until Tuesday January 18, which is a speculative date at this time. All arrangements are currently underway and we anticipate the electrical service to be restored sometime Monday January 17. Once this is accomplished a temporary controller cabinet can be delivered, and set. Immediately following this procedure all internal / external wiring to connect and program the lighting system and is is tentatively scheduled for Tuesday morning provided the electrical restoration goes as planned but is dependent on the condition of the existing wiring system. It is our intent to have temporary service restored and the traffic signals functioning during the afternoon Tuesday, 11/18, 2022.
While the intersection is being controlled by the temporary system, motorists will experience a slight difference as it relates to the operation of the signals and flow of traffic. Where as previously overhead cameras detected vehicle presence and sent the data to the controller to cycle to the appropriate signals, and traffic cycled based on existing, (real time) conditions, the temporary system will operate solely on a timing system. This means motorist will experience times when a traffic light is activated even though there is no traffic present in a that specific lane. The timings will be based off of data retrieved from the old system to best represent the actual volume of traffic at peak hours at this specific location.
We ask for patience and cooperation as this process may take some time to completely restore to what we are all accustomed to, under the present circumstances this aforementioned operation is the most efficient and quickest method for the restoration.
