MOUNT VERNON — The city of Mount Vernon has taken digital technology to the next level, but it will take a keen eye to notice it.
The city has cameras installed with two new digital stoplights on North Main Street. The cameras, which are located where Main Street intersects Pleasant and Hamtramck streets, are not there to give motorists tickets, but to help with the flow of traffic, according to Mount Vernon Mayor Richard Mavis.
The city uses traffic loops on many streets which have a lighter amount of traffic to determine when vehicles are waiting at the light. Since Hamtramck and Pleasant streets are brick streets, the city is unable to put the loops down. That’s where the new cameras will take over. The cameras will detect when a vehicle on Hamtramck Street or Pleasant Street is waiting on the light and will turn the light green in their direction. When there is no traffic on those side streets, the lights are expected to stay green on North Main, allowing a better flow of traffic in all directions. The cameras were up and running Thursday.
“It’s a project that’s kind of gone unnoticed,” said Mavis. “But, it will help the flow of traffic.”
The city’s cost for the cameras and new digital traffic signals is $18,000. Another digital signal and camera will be placed at the intersection of North Main and Sugar streets this spring.
In another traffic signal matter, the test pattern with the new signal at Blackjack and Newark roads is nearly complete. The signal is expected to change from flashing to fully functional by the end of next week.
In other news, Mavis said:
•Leaf pickup is expected to start Monday, Oct. 27, in the city. Mavis said if enough leaves have not fallen, the process will begin Nov. 3.
•The bricks have been removed on Curtis Street and work has begun on the compaction of the dirt. Rietchlin Engineering will put down a gravel base and 8 inches of concrete to help support the road bed. Sand, then the bricks, will be placed on top of the concrete. The workers will also put in a sidewalk and curbing on the street between Main and Mulberry streets. Mavis said the city found enough bricks in its stockpile to replace those that were chipped or broken.
•The zero-entry portion of the pool will have its pebbleflex foam replaced soon by the contractor. The soft foam has been flaking and coming up in chunks, so the contractor will scrape up what remains and totally replace it with a new adhesive.
•The remaining city bicentennial cookbooks will be on sale at city hall for $5 each.
•Department heads from the fire, police, streets, parks, utility and water departments all met with Mavis and discussed the city’s response to the windstorm which hit the city in September. Mavis said they felt the response was solid, but they also identified areas which could have been improved.
•The installation of the heating and cooling system in City Hall is going as planned.
•It appears as if Dingey Movers Inc. will be able to move the bowstring truss bridge from near Bladensburg to Foundation Park in the next couple of weeks.
