Wal-Mart to get traffic light near gas station

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February 4, 2013

Wal-Mart to get traffic light near gas station

By Janet Jacobs Corsicana Daily Sun The Corsicana Daily Sun Mon Feb 04, 2013, 10:08 PM CST

Corsicana — A traffic signal will be installed at the Corsicana Wal-Mart in the next month to six weeks, according to the Texas Department of Transportation.

The stop light will be located at the western-most entrance to the parking lot, the one next to the Murphy filling station. Work should start in the latter part of February, according to current estimates.

The signal was requested by the City of Corsicana, and a traffic study was conducted on June 13 to see if it was needed. The study showed that 1,325 vehicles went through the driveway in a 13-hour day, while nearly 17,000 cars drove on that section of Highway 31 during the same time period.

“Most people understand this can make things safer,” explained Darwin Myers, area engineer for TxDOT. “A signal doesn’t solve everything, but it can make it safer as you approach Highway 31.”

Employees at the Rent-A-Center have a front-row seat to the traffic woes at the Wal-Mart intersections, and they welcome the idea of a signal.

“Thank God,” said Monica Selman, assistant manager at the Rent-A-Center. “I’ve worked here six and a half months, and I’ve seen numerous wrecks and even more almost-wrecks.”

Donna Gantt, manager of Cato, agreed that the higher-speed traffic on the highway does make it risky to turn east from the parking lot.

“Maybe it will prevent some of these accidents,” she said. “It’s people coming out of here. I know when I pull out of here during the day it’s tense because the cars flying over that hill, and we have to pull out in front of them.”

This makes the third light to be installed in Corsicana in the last two years. The state also installed lights at 34th Street, and at Alison, the western drive into Navarro College from Highway 31.

The city was looking at cutting down on accidents, said Elizabeth Borstad, Corsicana city engineer.

“Part of it is people coming out of the parking lot,” she said.

The cost of the project is expected to be about $95,000, and the state will pick up the tab for it, according to the report.

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Janet Jacobs may be reached via email at jjacobs@corsicanadailysun.com. Want to “soundoff” to this article? Email: Soundoff@corsicanadailysun.com

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Wal-Mart to get traffic light near gas station

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