By Audrey Bailey
The Town of Zionsville is making plans to install a traffic light at one of the major entry points to downtown, but not everyone thinks that’s a good idea.
Town officials are targeting next fall to begin installing a traffic light at Oak and First streets, an intersection that is currently guided by a three-way stop sign. But, according to Lance Lantz, Zionsville superintendent of street/stormwater services, managing the area’s high traffic flow is something that needs to be addressed.
“We have done a traffic study and found that the level of service in the evening peak hour of travel is an E on a scale of A to F, which means there is a significant delay experienced by drivers,” Lantz said.
Some Zionsville residents don’t believe the light is a good idea. Mervyn Cohen, local Zionsville resident, does not see the need for positioning a stop light at this familiar intersection.
“The problem with putting a light there is there are many times a day when it’s really quiet,” Cohen said “So, people are just going to sit there with the light green going the other way, and you’re sitting at red, doing nothing.”
For Cohen and some other Zionsville residents, the idea of removing the stop signs and adding a stoplight seems both unnecessary and costly.
“It’s solving a problem that doesn’t exist at the cost of a lot of money,” Cohen said.
The Zionsville Economic Development Commission is considering funding the estimated $260,000 project next year. In addition to installing a traffic light, the project would include improvements to First Street from Sycamore to Poplar streets.
“There’s a landscaping/pedestrian draining plan that has been developed to fix some other deficiencies along Oak Street,” Lantz said. “And, as part of that design process, we look to include a signal at the intersection along with all the other sidewalk and pedestrian accommodations that would be necessary to include a pedestrian crossing element.”
