New traffic signals soon will grace the Court Street intersections of Carpenter and President streets, if they ever are completed.
Last spring, Athens City Council members adopted an ordinance that would allow city officials to spend as much as $171,000 on new traffic signals in the Uptown intersections. Carpenter and President streets are the last intersections to receive new lights. The new traffic signals are part of the Court Street Revitalization Project.
But the installation of these new lights has taken longer than expected.
The city has failed to meet its original Sept. 1 deadline for the completion of the project, Mayor Ric Abel said.
Weather conditions and the contractor's schedule have caused delays, Abel said. W.G. Fairfield, a Canton-based contracting company, is installing the traffic lights.
Abel set a new date for the project's completion last month and said plans were to have the lights installed and working by Sept. 26. But the new lights still are covered and not functioning.
Councilman Dave Palmer, R-4th ward and chair of the city's transportation and street committee, said last week that he does not know when the project will be finished. He said he did not know why the lights had not been completed by the date Abel set.
Athens area Chamber of Commerce President Larry Payne said last spring that city officials wanted to make the city more attractive, and installing new street light fixtures with a more rustic look was a way to achieve this.
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Erica Bush
