Will flash during Calhoun Street location's hours of operation
For improved pedestrian safety, the City of Fort Wayne has installed solar-powered flashing crosswalk signals at the Neighborhood Health Clinics and WIC office location at 1717 S. Calhoun St.
The amber-colored lights will flash to caution drivers for increased pedestrian traffic from an hour before the clinic opens to an hour after it closes. The clinic's parking lot is across the street with heavy foot traffic of clients and patients crossing the street, often with infants and young children.
The solar-cell devices, the first of their kind for a permanent installation by the City's Traffic Engineering Department, do not need additional electrical wiring. For this location, it saved the City money by negating the need for running conduit and wire and cutting into pavement.
“Neighborhood Health Clinics' Calhoun Street office was the perfect location for this kind of traffic signal,” said Mayor Tom Henry. “Visitors to the clinic appreciate the reminder to drivers to watch for pedestrians, and the use of a solar-powered signal was ideal since it saved the City money by avoiding the need to run electrical service to this crosswalk.”
State law requires motorists to yield to pedestrians in the crosswalk.
The Calhoun Street signals will operate 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Mondays and Wednesday and 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. City employees installed the $8,055 signals.