Mayor Anthony Faulk took the podium on the steps outside of City Hall to address the residents of Emerson Valley concerning the heavily-congested intersection at Main Street and Elmwood Avenue. The townsfolk have been petitioning the Mayor’s Office for months to find a solution for the intersection, as it becomes particularly bogged down during rush hour.

“One of the major changes we have planned for the intersection is the addition of several new left and right turn arrows on the traffic lights,” the mayor explained during his speech. “However, the trade-off is that we’re making the entire intersection a ‘no turn on red’ area. Hopefully, these new lights will help to direct the flow of traffic at a more even pace.”

Later in his address, Mayor Faulk discussed a reevaluation of the traffic lights’ timed systems. “During our study of the traffic patterns at the intersection, we actually found that many more cars are using Elmwood than Main Street. To bring things more in line with that fact, the green lights along Elmwood will remain on for a longer period of time than the ones on Main during rush hour. They will continue with their current timing during off-peak hours.”

The mayor’s office is also looking into the cost of installing sensors on the traffic lights in Emerson Valley that will be able to tell when there are cars waiting at a red light when none are going through the green light. This would allow traffic to flow more organically, and prevent a situation where multiple vehicles are stuck at a red light despite no traffic coming through the intersection.

Mayor Faulk has said that these changes are expected to be implemented as early as January of next year. If you have any questions or concerns about the new traffic lights, you can contact City Hall at any time between 9 AM and 6 PM, Monday through Friday.

-Sarah Donovan, Editor & Local News, Emerson Valley Gazette