TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (WTWO/WAWV) — A change may be coming to an intersection with one of the city’s oldest stoplights. 

“13th and 3rd Ave, it’s one of our oldest signals in the city as far as equipment goes, and we’ve done some studies recently to show a few intersections that no longer warrant a signal. This was one of them that we are looking to likely take out in the future,” Marcus Maurer Terre Haute City Engineer said.

With the city experiencing signal issues at the intersection of 13th and Lafayette, a quick replacement was needed. The necessary equipment to solve the signal issue was taken from the 13th and 3rd Ave. traffic signals. 

“We have some outdated signal equipment in Terre Haute and it’s continued to function over the years. So it’s hard to replace something that works but when something goes out it’s hard to get replacement equipment. We had a signal issue elsewhere in a major thoroughfare and we needed to find equipment quickly to get it up and going. That’s the 13th and Lafayette, we did not want to wait for parts in that location and leave a major intersection closed or on flash. There’s too much risk there. So we were able to borrow some parts from 13th and 3rd Ave. to get that going until that’s repaired,” Maurer explained.

With the needed equipment going to the intersection of 13th and Lafayette, the 13th and 3rd Ave. intersection has been disabled and bagged and is functioning as a two-way stop. The city considered a few options for the intersection and ultimately decided on a two-way stop.

“We made that decision based on that it was the least needed signal to keep a major intersection up and going. The standard procedure would be if the signal is still operating but not functional, would be to have a flash, or have no signal lit up, and it would be a four-way (stop). But since 13th Street carries so much more traffic than 3rd Ave., it would be terrible for traffic, and possibly unsafe to have a four-way stop, so we chose to bag the signal.”

Maurer also noted that the project would be City Council’s decision whether or not to make the change permanent. 

“It’ll be up to City Council whether it’s permanently removed, but I think there’s a strong case that it no longer requires the signal. We’ve got to get it submitted to the City Council. I don’t know how long that will take,” Maurer said.