Lorain Councilman Angel Arroyo is circulating a petition. He wants other city leaders and the mayor to re-consider taking down 39 traffic lights.
He particularly concerned about intersections near schools.
For instance, one traffic light was shut down near Palm Elementary School.
Another one was changed to a flashing light in front of Saint Peter’s grade school.
The controversy started after an engineering study reported 39 traffic lights were no longer warranted, because there wasn’t enough traffic.
Arroyo hopes his petition encourages city leaders to re-activate the traffic lights near schools, where kids cross streets.
“Our goal with the petition is to get a thousand signatures, because that’s like the same thing as a thousand phone calls, it’s like people calling the police and mayor and saying they want these traffic lights back up,” Arroyo said.
Mayor Chase Ritenauer said shutting off all traffic lights is not a done deal, and that the city will re-evaluate traffic lights by schools to make sure kids are safe.
Shutting off the traffic lights would save the city $55,000 a year.
