The Willow Glen Resident Council Watch Signals set to light the way at two very busy Willow Glen crossings City fund to pay for upgrades on both Lincoln and Meridian avenues By Cecily Barnes Drivers trying to turn left off Lincoln Avenue onto Minnesota or cross Meridian Avenue at Lenn Drive will soon be able to assume less defensive postures. By next summer, says senior traffic engineer Ron Northouse, a protected left-turn signal will be installed at that corner of Lincoln and Minnesota avenues, and the stop sign at Meridian Avenue and Lenn Drive will be replaced by a traffic signal. "In the spring it will go to bid, and then construction will begin in the summer," Northouse said. A traffic-signal fund, which the City Council nearly doubled last year, will pay for both projects--$150,000 for the new signal at Lenn Drive and $75,000 to upgrade the unprotected left-turn signal light now at Lincoln and Minnesota,. "Oh good, they should do that," said Willow Glen Neighborhood Association president Kris Cunningham. "I go to the post office quite frequently and I also use that gas station, and I have noticed that's a dangerous intersection. And with Starbucks being so popular and children there when school is getting out, it's even more crucial that we have a safe intersection at Lincoln and Minnesota." The Department of Streets and Traffic approved upgrades at these intersections because of similar concerns and because both locations have met state standards for intersection improvements. "We prioritize by the number of vehicles that use the intersection, the number of pedestrians, the accident history and the proximity to other intersections, traffic lights, schools and special conditions," Northouse said. During a 12-hour period, nearly 39,6000 cars and 114 pedestrians move across Meridian Avenue at Lenn Drive. Approximately 2.7 accidents occur each year, and in the past three years one pedestrian has been killed. At Lincoln and Minnesota avenues, 18 accidents have occurred in the intersection over the past two years. [ Back to Contents Page | Willow Glen Resident Home Page | Archives ] This article appeared in the Willow Glen Resident, September 23, 1998. ©1998 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.