Sept. 21, 2007: This mileage sign was at the 1954-2010 intersection of US 63 and US 30 in Toledo. The stoplight assembly that’s the subject of this post is on the left.
When the stoplight at US 30/63 was set up in 2003 it was designed to be triggered by traffic from US 63. Now that 30 has been moved and the road carries less traffic, the DOT wanted to switch which directions caused the light to change.
The Toledo City Council apparently has veto power over such a change, as the Toledo Chronicle reports.
While the DOT representative quoted in the story certainly has a point that it will mean more vehicles will have to stop at least momentarily, the city council members are also right in that the staggered pattern makes it much easier to make left turns onto 63.
I wondered if the intersection would revert to a four-way stop after the opening of the four-lane. Right now, that’s not the plan. In that case, could we get solid arms holding the lights instead of stringing them up?
This intersection is one of six throughout Tama County with stoplights.