Blinking traffic signals at 12 downtown Steubenville intersections to transition to 4-way stops

STEUBENVILLE -- Drivers will have to adjust to a new norm in downtown Steubenville--blinking red lights at 12 intersections that are transitioning to all-way stops.

City Engineer Mike Dolak said traffic signals at those intersections are being decommissioned. For the next six months they'll blink red to help motorist adjust to the change.

"It's part of the downtown signal removal project," he said. "We did a safety study, looked at all the intersections, that found at 12 out of 13 intersections traffic signals are not warranted any longer. The lights are old and antiquated and the equipment is probably 50 or 60 years old, so we're going to remove the signals to create four-way stops. As part of that, the lights need to go on flash for about six months, but they'll probably stay that way until they're removed."

He concedes not everybody is a fan of the change,

"What happens next is we're under a design contract," he said. "We need to remove the lights, some poles and some signage, relocate the signage, and all the intersections will go to 4-way stop. At some higher pedestrian (use) intersections we'll look at pedestrian signals, high visibility signals... to stop traffic so pedestrians can cross the street safely." ... high visibility."