Two new pedestrian signals along Chandler’s recently completed Western Canal Multi-Use Path were turned on for the first time June 22.
The crossings are located just north of Elliot Road with at the Western Canal on Dobson Road and on Alma School Road and will serve pedestrians and cyclists using the concrete path.
The new signals were placed in “flash mode” June 20 to alert drivers of their presence and pending activation.
Temporary warning signs also have been erected to give drivers advance notice. A third pedestrian signal on the Western Canal at Arizona Avenue will be installed by mid-July.
These signals are not the same as Tempe’s pedestrian beacons installed last year on Rural Road and McClintock Drive, along the Western Canal Multi-Use Path.
Chandler opted for signals that are push-button actuated with traditional red-yellow-green indications for vehicular traffic. Funding for the $300,000 project came from the Congestion Management Air Quality program that is administered by the Federal Highway Administration and the Arizona Department of Transportation.
The City worked with Salt River Project to make the canal’s maintenance road available for multi-use and completed the bicycle and pedestrian path last year. The project extends for 3.5 miles from the Loop 101 Price Freeway east past Arizona Avenue to the Hamilton Street alignment at the Southern Pacific Railroad tracks.
