Traffic signal coming for 28th Street and Avenue B

A $200,000 traffic signal is going in at 28th Street and Avenue B and the city of Yuma, Yuma County and the state will share in the cost.

The Yuma City Council authorized an agreement for its $75,000 share of the work last week. Once the signal is built, the city also will be responsible for its operation and maintenance.

The state of Arizona will contribute $100,000 toward the signal while Yuma County will kick in $25,000 as its contribution because it has county facilities nearby.

If the final bids on the signal come in higher than expected, the city and state's share of the work will rise accordingly, but the county's will remain the same, according to a city staff report on the project.

The signal will be built according to city standards in anticipation of the upcoming Area Service Highway return of Avenue B right-of-way from the state to the city, the report said.

The city council last week also authorized an agreement with the state for a system to control the timing of traffic signals.

The goal of the project is to have all of the signals under the city's control tied together by a fiber-optic network operated from a central location at the Department of Public Works.

The main benefit of the timing system will be to move traffic more safely and smoothly throughout the community by reducing the number of starts and stops required.

A portion of the system is under the state's jurisdiction, which is why the city wants the state to help pay for the fiber-optic network.

Most of the 38 state-controlled traffic signals are along 4th Avenue and 32nd Street, along Avenue 3E and along U.S. Highway 95, which includes much of both 16th Street and Avenue B.

The state-controlled signals along those streets will become a part of the city system in four years, after the Area Service Highway is built, the report said. It's estimated that it will cost $1.3 million to connect those signals to the city's system so the state has agreed to contribute $200,000 towards the cost.

The entire project is expected to cost $2.7 million spread out over several years.

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T.M. Shultz can be reached at tshultz@yumasun.com or 539-6852.