The city may remove the traffic signal at Lemon Grove Way and Grove Street and replace it with an all-way stop.
The Lemon Grove City Council tonight will consider a resolution authorizing the city engineer to take away the stoplight.
Staff estimates that removing the signal in favor of stop signs will cost $20,000, but will save $1,200 annually in energy and maintenance costs, City Engineer Leon Firsht wrote in a report to council. Removing the signal also will eliminate the need in the future to replace traffic signal components for a savings of around $2,800 a year, Firsht said.
Funds for the project have been budgeted as part of the city’s Five-Year Capital Improvement Program.
The decision to bring the proposed project to the council follows a study Rick Engineering conducted on the signal, which was installed in 1987.
“Since then, traffic patterns and traffic volumes have changed in the immediate area, due to nearby development and freeway improvements,” wrote Principal Engineer Mark Jugar in a report to the city.
The construction of the State Route 94/State Route 125 freeway connector completed in 2003 eliminated the on and off ramps at Grove Street and motorists access the nearest interchange at Lemon Grove Avenue west of the Lemon Grove Way and Grove Street intersection, Jugar said.
The report urges the city to put in an all-way stop if the decision is made to remove the signal.
“Although the current traffic volumes do not warrant an all-way stop control, this traffic control type is recommended due to the current sight visibility restrictions at this intersection,” Jugar wrote. “Specifically, for the southbound approach of this intersection facing in the westbound direction.”
The Lemon Grove City Council meets at 6 p.m. tonight at the Lemon Grove Community Center.
