The Heber City Council voted unanimously Tuesday, Sept. 16, to install pedestrian crossing lights at the busy intersection of Mill Road and 980 South.
Councilmember Mike Johnston said the crossing lights will make the area safer for students at Timpanogos Middle School and Old Mill Elementary School.
“It just felt, really, [like it was] getting more and more dangerous or just iffy sometimes when people aren’t paying attention,” he said on KPCW’s “Local News Hour” Sept. 17.
The intersection already has four crosswalks and two crossing guards, but city leaders still want to calm car traffic more and make pedestrians more visible to drivers.
The city will widen sidewalks and narrow the road near the intersection to force vehicle traffic to slow down.
Johnston said the council also considered seven crossing signal options and selected one that’s activated with a button.
“We are going to put across that road what’s called RRFB – rectangular, [rapid] flashing beacon,” he said.
A yellow light above the intersection will warn drivers to slow down and yield to pedestrians.
Unlike some crosswalks in the middle of a busy block, this one won’t flash red – only yellow crossing lights are allowed at intersections.
Installing the new beacon will cost roughly $150,000. Johnston said the city will push to finish the improvements before this winter.
Pedestrian safety is a perennial concern for Heber leaders, especially in school zones. Two Wasatch High School students were seriously injured in separate incidents in September 2023 on the roads around the school.
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