New traffic light coming in December

A new traffic light for the intersection of Illinois Street and 13th Avenue is scheduled to be shipped on Dec. 5, with installation to occur before the end of the year.

"I would expect for us to see it sometime the second week of December, with installation shortly thereafter," Mike Palmer, Sidney electric superintendent, said.

In August, the light pole was hit by a truck. Since then, the intersection has had flashing yield lights for east- and westbound traffic and stop signs for north- and southbound traffic.

In September, it was reported that it would take as much as eight months to replace the light pole.

"That was the state's timeline," Palmer explained. "That was just what they were being told from their distributors. Once we went out to our distributors, we found Hurricane Harvey was right after that and they weren't sure when they were going to get that slotted."

He added, "We were fortunate to find a slot that was before that wave of orders."

The earlier date is welcome, Palmer said.

"That typically doesn't happen, where it's actually better," he said. "Most times, they give you a good lead time and you're waiting four months after them."

Arriving in December are all of the components to complete the light pole.

"It's basically just the pole, the mast, the traffic signal, and also the new street light," Palmer said. "All the wiring and all that, we'll use the existing wiring that was at the light."

Sidney Electric Department will coordinate with the state to install the new light pole.

"That is a state controlled intersection," Palmer said, "so we'll coordinate it with the state to see what works with their timeline."

The installation should take only a day, Palmer said.

"That works with their schedule, because they are the ones that disconnected all the wiring and all that," he said. "As far as installing the signal and the light, I imagine we would have that done in a day or a day in a half."

Having only a two-way stop at the intersection has not created any problems for the city.

"I think people now are getting used to it, where the first couple of weeks were obviously the worst, where they weren't exactly sure," Palmer said. "Something that's been there for a number of years they got used to and now it's gone, because of the accident."

It has not created any challenged for the city's electric department, Palmer said.

"It's unfortunate what happened, with the accident, but it created extra work for us to take it down and it's going to create extra work for us to put it back up," he said. "That's the only issued we've had with it."

Palmer said he is ready for the replacement light pole to arrive.

"We're excited to get it back in and get that intersection functioning as it should, with the four ways going," he said. "We'll be happy to get that thing up. As soon as we get it in, that will be No. 1 on our docket to get it installed and functioning."