During Monday’s night meeting, the Carroll City Council postponed any action on whether to remove or keep the street lights located at Adams and Court Street. Back on Dec. 21 last year, the signals were covered to start the process of a 90-day removal study period. The information collected from the study was reported to the city council during Monday night’s meeting. The Carroll Police Department reported the average speed in the 25-mile-per-hour zone was between 21.2 and 23.9, and no motor vehicle accidents were reported to occur at either of the intersections. Council Member At-Large LaVern Dirkx studied the four scenarios of crossing the intersections and the time required to wait.
Comments were received and logged at City Hall during this period. For Adams Street, 49 residents favored removing the light, and 55 approved removing the traffic signal at Court Street. Those in favor of not removing the signals reasoning included vehicle entry and crossing delay from side streets and pedestrian crossing safety. Kimberly Tiefenthaler, Executive Director for the Carroll Chamber of Commerce, addressed the council members, saying her biggest concern is the downtown businesses.
While a majority of the council members see the price difference between removing each traffic light at $70,000 or replacing each signal at a cost between $250,000 and $325,000 as a no-brainer, City Manager Aaron Kookier says he agrees with Tiefenthaler that more needs to be done to promote downtown Carroll to travelers driving through.
The City Council agreed to wait for more reports from downtown businesses and residents of Carroll to be able to get a full picture before proceeding to act on any decision. Any residents with comments regarding the traffic signal study are encouraged to contact City Hall or city council members.
