New Traffic Signals Are a 'Go' on Detroit Avenue

City officials didn't plan on turning on the new traffic lights on Detroit Avenue so soon.

And they didn't plan the first one for the intersection of Belle and Detroit avenues.

However, when the aging traffic signals failed this week, officials decided that rather than repair a signal set for replacement, they would replace it sooner than expected.

On Tuesday, the traffic signal at Belle Avenue went live.

It was the first of a  to replace — and synchronize — traffic signals at 14 intersections on Detroit Avenue is well under way.

"The old light light is dying just before we're set to get a new one," said Mayor Michael Summers. "It made sense to start with that one."

Crews from two contracted companies have taken advantage of warm temperatures to install a few of the new traffic posts, as part of the city’s multi-year project to improve traffic flow in the city.

Joe Beno, the city’s director of , has said the Detroit Avenue portion of the project should be wrapped up by the end of summer.