CORNWALL – A traffic light, installed at Cumberland and Water Streets during the reconstruction of Brookdale Avenue, should be turned off and covered up for now.
That’s according to a report before city council on Monday.
The report was requested after Coun. Justin Towndale brought a new business motion during a council meeting this month asking for a report on keeping the traffic light.
Under the city’s plan, the lights would be temporarily turned off for the rest of the winter since Brookdale Avenue is open to traffic. But if the city chose to take on the lights over the winter, it would cost around $2,000.
The lights will be needed again in the spring when another detour will be in place to allow construction crews (Bray Construction through the Federal Bridge Corporation) to complete more work on Brookdale.
The city states the lights are temporary and not of the same design as permanent signals.
Adding a light permanently at the intersection would cost $140,000 and $5,000 a year to maintain, according to city staff.
The traffic lights were installed in July 2016 as part of the detour plan in order to ease traffic congestion.
In the meantime, the city would do a traffic study in May to see if the lights are needed and that analysis would come back for the council meeting in late May.
Monday’s council meeting starts at 7 p.m.