Gilroy
– One of the city’s most dangerous intersections will be getting
an upgrade this week.
A new traffic signal will be activated Thursday at the
intersection of First and Church Streets, recently rated Gilroy’s
second highest in number of collisions.
By Lori Stuenkel
Gilroy – One of the city’s most dangerous intersections will be getting an upgrade this week.
A new traffic signal will be activated Thursday at the intersection of First and Church Streets, recently rated Gilroy’s second highest in number of collisions.
A left-turn signal is being added to ease turns from Church Street. Currently, drivers turning left onto First Street must yield to drivers going straight through the intersection, which partially contributed to some of the 59 collisions that occurred there from 2000 to 2003.
City traffic engineers said the switch will occur Thursday, when the existing traffic signal at the intersection will again be shut down for additional electrical work. Between 9am to 6pm this week, the existing signal will be out of service and the intersection will operate as a four-way stop during working hours to complete the wiring.
“We’ll try and minimize the inconvenience, but there will be minor delays,” Engineering Inspector Steve Beams said.
The contractor will also have flaggers at the intersection to direct traffic.
When the new signal is activated, drivers on Church Street will have a protected left-hand turn, and both northbound and southbound motorists will have a left-hand turn pocket and a through lane.
“This is basically going to free up a lot of people,” Beams said. “If everybody’s going through the intersection, there’s no back-up, but the minute somebody has to wait for traffic to clear the intersection, they have to wait to make a left-hand turn. There will be less congestion, basically.”
Construction on the new signal began in January. The next traffic signal project will begin shortly at Wren Avenue and Third Street, which currently is a four-way stop.
