Downtown Nampa signals will stay on

Pedestrian safety and smooth traffic flow were the key issues Monday as Nampa City Council members once again weighed whether to keep green-yellow-red traffic signals at two downtown intersections.

In the end, the council decided to do nothing, for now, and let stand their two-week-old decision to reinstate the traffic-light cycles on 2nd Street South at its intersections with 13th and 14th avenues.

Earlier this year, the city’s traffic division studied downtown traffic signals and determined the two lights weren’t needed on that westbound arterial. So in August the signals were changed to flashing red on 13th and 14th and flashing yellow on 2nd, with the possibility of removing the signals in the future. But after downtown merchants and others raised concerns about the safety of pedestrians crossing 2nd, the council directed staff Nov. 2 to put the lights back on their three-phase pattern.

Downtown business owners came out again Monday to urge the council not to go back to flashing lights.

“We’re trying to make downtown a pedestrian-friendly environment, and that’s not working so well,” said Darlene Johnson, whose Darlene’s Printing sits on the corner of 2nd and 13th.

With three lanes of traffic, it’s tricky for pedestrians to tell when it’s safe to cross 2nd if there’s no red light to halt oncoming cars, she said.

But Mike Ferdinand, who works downtown, said the lights unnecessarily impede traffic on the main route through downtown.

“In 25 years I’ve spent hundreds of hours waiting there (at those traffic signals), waiting for nobody,” Ferdinand said. “I certainly don’t want to endanger pedestrians, but it just seems like there should be some kind of happy medium.”

Councilman Stephen Kren agreed with Ferdinand and city public works staff that the signals aren’t needed to control traffic at those intersections, and suggested installing pedestrian-activated devices to switch the lights from flashing yellow to red on demand.

“It just doesn’t in my mind make sense to make cars sit there and idle, pollute and all the things we’re trying to eliminate.”

Traffic Division Manager Ken Melton said it would cost about $13,000 to install pedestrian-activated buttons at both intersections.

He noted that 3rd Street South, the eastbound arterial, doesn’t have traffic signals downtown and hasn’t created problems. But Councilman Curtis Homer, a former Nampa police chief, said 3rd has far more cars parked along it, making it difficult for pedestrians and drivers to see what’s coming.

The council took no action Monday, but Mayor Tom Dale said the issue will likely come up again in the future, possibly to install pedestrian-activated devices or the far more expensive option of putting in newer traffic signals that can be synchronized.

Kristin Rodine: 377-6447