Several crossing guards, students, and parents have dealt with less-than-ideal safety conditions at the intersection of 3090 S. on Washington Fields Road in Washington County just outside of Saint George. To the relief of these weary parents, crossing guards and susceptible students of the nearby schools, a new traffic signal is planned for the intersection.
This intersection is located between two schools: Majestic Fields Elementary School on the east side, and St. George Academy on the west. The safety issues of this intersection for students in the area was addressed recently at a work meeting of the Washington City Council.
Council members noted that many warrant studies were conducted at the intersection and that the intersection has finally met the current warrant standards for a new traffic signal. One crossing guard that was at the recent meeting spoke of how the traffic had dramatically increased with the growth of the area and that she was worried that children she has helped across the street may end up getting hurt.
Some traffic in this intersection between the two schools has been relieved as Merrill Road was completed and opened, but the growth in the area did not avert enough traffic to keep the intersection free of safety concerns as there is still a considerable amount of traffic that travels along Washington Fields Rd. and it is expected to increase. The most recent increase in traffic on this road has met with the warrants for placing a traffic light at the intersection.
A warrant is a threshold condition based upon average or normal conditions that, if found to be satisfied as part of an engineering study, show result in analysis and other track conditions or factors determine whether a traffic control device or other improvement is justified according to the manual of uniform traffic control devices
There are nine warrants in total that go in to qualifying an intersection to receive a new traffic light they include:
- Warrant one: covers an eight-hour period of a vehicular volume
- Warrant two: covers a four-hour period of vehicle or volume
- Warrant three: addresses peak hour vehicular volume
- Warrant four: looks at pedestrian volume
- Warrant five: looks to see if there’s any school crossing in the area
- Warrant six: looks at coordinated signal systems
- Warrant seven: looks at crash experience
- Warrant eight: looks at the roadway network
- Warrant nine: looks at intersections near a grade crossing or a train crossing
The intersection of 3090 S. met warrants one through three and also approached requirements for warrant five. The board expects that plans will be drawn up within the next month and it will take another 6 to 7 months to acquire necessary materials for the project and that they hope to install the new traffic signal sometime around February 2022.
Until the new traffic light can be installed, the city is hoping that people will drive more cautiously through this intersection and that parents will continue to keep their children aware of safety measures for crossing the intersection, including making sure to pay special attention to the crossing guard.
For more information on living in Saint George, including St. George real estate and surrounding areas in Washington County please contact me anytime.
