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SALEM -- The traffic signal at the intersection of North Lincoln Avenue and East Sixth Street will be replaced with a hybrid signal.
During city council's meeting Tuesday, council voted unanimously to approve a resolution authorizing the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) to replace the current traditional four-way traffic signal with a "pedestrian hybrid beacon."
City Councilwoman Jayne Bricker asked why the signal was being changed by ODOT, citing concerns about the volume of traffic in the area during school dismissal due to its close proximity to the Salem High School. Mayor Cyndi Baronzzi Dickey and City Service Safety Director Joe Cappuzzello said that the current traffic light was among the oldest in the city and was likely to fail soon, with both noting that as that intersection is on a state route the decision had fallen to ODOT, which determined that a conventional four-way light was not necessary.
"It is outdated; it is going to fail. They've done studies and the state, who controls that area, has determined that there's no necessity to replace it with a new one and that this type of a hybrid one will work just as well," Dickey said.
"We've been looking at this for about a year. We talked to the previous superintendent and treasurer about the options because this is our oldest signal in town and is ready to fail. We were going forward with the signal to replace it and then when ODOT did their traffic study we didn't even come to 50% of the cars required," said Cappuzzello.
Cappuzzello explained that the new hybrid light would only stop incoming traffic if the pedestrian signal was pushed. He said that while he had not been given an exact date for when the new light would be installed, he didn't expect it to happen before the end of the year.
Councilwoman Sara Baer and Bricker asked if the city could publish a thirty-day notice for residents through its social media pages and TextMyGov text line once the installation date was confirmed, and Cappuzzello said that they could. He also said that signs indicating the new signal had been installed would also be posted in the area.
During his report, Cappuzzello also told city council that he had spoken with Howells & Baird and that the city's annual street paving was tentatively slated to begin either in the final week of July or the first week of August. Cappuzzello said that streets which are utilized as part of the Salem City School District's bus routes would be prioritized as paving got under way to minimize any potential disruptions to student transportation.
The council also approved a resolution authorizing Parks Director Kelli Pastore to apply for a grant from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) Nature Works program. Pastore said that all the paperwork for the grant had been completed and submitted, and that the last thing needed to finalize the grant was a copy of the approved resolution. She said that the grant was county specific, and that the municipality in Columbiana County with a competing application was Lisbon, which applied for funding for pickleball courts.
Pastore said that the parks department's application was for an all-weather synthetic ice-skating rink and storage shed for Centennial Park, and that novel submissions like the skating rink receive bonus points during the application grading process. She also noted that Salem's application was only for funding to finish an existing project, while Lisbon's application was seeking full-project funding which may also help Salem's chances of being awarded the grant.
During the report of standing committees Councilman Jim Harrington announced that the finance committee would meet at 6 p.m. on Aug. 4 to review requested appropriation and Councilman Jeff Stockman announced that the rules and ordinances committee would meet at 6 p.m. on Sept. 1 to discuss the city's fee schedule ordinance and e-bike and scooter regulations.
The city council will meet next at 7 p.m. on Aug. 4.