After receiving continued complaints from residents, West Covina has begun removing dated, in-road crosswalk lighting, including around Merced Elementary School.
The city uses both older in-road crosswalk light systems — in which lights flash from the crosswalk when someone is crossing — and newer rectangular rapid flashing beacons — double-sided signs at the end of the crosswalk which point at the crosswalk and flash when someone crosses — at its crosswalks not protected by stop signs or traffic signals.
The in-road lights are in six locations:
- Merced Avenue and Butterfield Road
- Vine Avenue and Glenn Alan Avenue
- Merced Avenue southeast of Orange Avenue
- Rowland Avenue and Neil Street
- Puente Avenue and Nora Avenue
- Badillo Street and David Court
The in-road lights were installed between 2006 and 2010, and the rectangular rapid flashing beacons have been added throughout this year.
Of particular concern to residents is the crosswalk at Merced and Butterfield which leads to Merced Elementary. Even with the rectangular rapid flashing beacons in place, residents have continued to criticize the city for not replacing the in-road lights.
“The signs flash, but someone has decided to ignore the fact that one by one, (the in-road lights) all stopped working and no one thought enough of the safety of our children to fix them,” resident Bill Elliott said.
The city is in the process of removing the failed in-road lights but is not yet replacing them, City Manager David Carmany said. Replacements would cost about $25,000-$30,000, according to Transtech Engineers, the city’s contract traffic engineering firm.
However, city staff is currently rewriting its capital improvement program and could include the in-road lighting, Carmany said.
“These needed projects will be presented to council in context of all the capital needs of the city, so they can look at those things more comprehensively and make decisions about how projects are prioritized,” Carmany said.
The city is also looking to upgrade signage and striping at several other intersections:
- Willow Avenue and Farlington Street
- Barranca Street and Sunset Hill Drive
- Cameron Avenue and Pima Avenue
- Workman Avenue and Phillips Avenue
- Glendora Avenue southwest of Christopher Street
- Sunset Avenue and Rowland Avenue