Citizens of Humboldt will see a major change while driving through the city.
The lights at the intersection of Highway 5 and Highway 20 - or Main Street and 8th Avenue - will undergo major changes this week.
The city will be implementing left-hand turn signals and lane usage from all directions at this busy intersection, said Joe Doxey, Director of Planning and Engineering for the City of Humboldt.
"We are changing lanes over to allow for a left-hand turning lane," said Doxey.
Work will be done on the lights August 24-25.
"They should be up and running by the end of the day Thursday," said Doxey.
While work is being done on the lights, there will be a couple detours to avoid the intersection.
A marked detour will be set up for the duration of the work, said Doxey. The routing will utilize the existing truck route on the south side, and 4th Street to 11th Avenue and 16th Street on the north side.
"There will be some four-way stops at Highway 5 to the truck route, just to make it a little easier for people to cross there," said Doxey.
He also explained there will be good signage to alert people that there is a detour and where to go.
Once the lights are changed, they will cycle through the new turning advancement for a few days.
"People will wonder why it will signal for left turning when no one is turning there, but it is just to get people used to them," said Doxey.
After a few days of cycling through, the system will change to a camera system, similar to the one used at the Highway 5 and Peck Road intersection on the west end of the city.
"At the beginning of next week we will be updating the program on it and it will be basically using camera detection," said Doxey.
Not only will the new light system allow for turning lanes, it will also upgrade the pedestrian walkways and lights, extend some of the pole arms, use camera detection and input a new traffic controller and cabinet.
Doxey urges motorists to pay close attention to all temporary signage and new intersection signage. He also added pavement marking will be updated at the intersection to match the new lights.
The city is also planning a few other traffic changes around the city.
Other intersection signal upgrades around town are:
Hwy. 5 and 16th Street: northwest corner pole repairs, new secondary signals, new push buttons and signs, a south bound loop replacement and a new/refurbished cabinet
Hwy. 5 and 6th Street: replacement of signals with LEDs, new secondary signals (east bound and west bound), new push buttons and signs and a new controller with a refurbished cabinet
Main Street and 2nd Avenue: replacement of signals with LEDs, new push buttons and signs, a salvaged controller and cabinets from Hwy. 5 and Main Street, and detection upgrades to wireless system.
