That temporary-looking four-way stop at Josephine and Baker Streets will be there for a while yet. And it may become permanent because some people prefer it to a stop-light, says city manager Kevin Cormack.
“We are hearing there is less delay,” he told the Star. “This can be a busy intersection, but in times when it is not, you don’t have to wait so long for a light.”
The lights at the intersection were taken out because of a failure of the lamp standards, which were custom fixtures that were not replaceable and were expensive to re-mold, Cormack explained.
He said the four-way stop will remain that way until the conclusion this fall of the downtown planning process, because lighting is one of the design changes up for discussion. The city doesn’t want to replace the light and then replace it again with a new design.
The downtown planning process is looking at design changes to such things as lighting, street furniture, and landscaping and has had several public input sessions in the past few months.
He said the city might do a survey this summer to see what people think about leaving the intersection as a four-way stop.