AZLE — Since October, Azleites have enjoyed speedier movement through the intersections at the Stewart Street bridge. Over the last few years, the area had become infamous as one of the worst spots for traffic backup in the city. Commuters could be seen waiting in line for green lights as far back as Ash Creek Baptist Church.
In the fall of 2024, all signals controlling traffic on the bridge stopped working.
Since then, the lights have flashed red, functioning more like stop signs. Oftentimes, such problems can only be resolved with the manual intervention of a technician.
Local area drivers found traffic problems have been resolved with the lights in their current state and dread the day they might be “fixed.” The Azle City Council and staff addressed the issue at a Feb. 4 meeting. Council members indicated there had been various problems with these lights throughout the years and they were well aware of the community’s preference; however, the lights are owned and controlled by the Texas Department of Transportation. During recent meetings with city staff and administration, TxDOT revealed the results of a traffic study on the intersections and announced that the lights cannot be left as they currently are. The study showed that four accidents had happened since November while only four accidents had occurred at the same spot over the prior two years.
The city now faces a number of possible options to address the issue.
“I think putting it back to what it was before, we’re going to get a lot of backlash,” Azle City Manager Tom Muir said. “(TxDOT) were getting constant complaints on it beforehand. So, he knows that what it is now, everybody wants.”
Removing the traffic lights and replacing them with stop signs is one redress, though Muir and Public Services Director Rick White said traffic accidents would likely increase substantially. TxDOT indicated to Muir that it will pay for signal removal if the city chooses this option.
The city could also take over the lights and hire engineering firms to program them as it wishes, but Muir and White said this would be cost prohibitive.
“Why should the city spend money for something TxDOT is willing to do for free for us?” White asked. “It’s state law that they have to do it ‘til we become a certain population. I think it’s like 30 or 40,000 people.”
White ultimately suggested having a yellow flashing light proceeding on Stewart and flashing red for traffic coming off Park Street in front of On The Patio.
“(The TxDOT reps) thought that would solve our problems that we had previously,” Muir said.
This setup would reduce the number of light cycles from seven to five, allowing people to get through more quickly and preventing traffic backup on Stewart Street.
White said that plan would also do away with the old weight-sensing pull-up strips and replace them with radar technology, better ensuring that the light cycles account for present traffic conditions. There is not an immediate timeline for when one of these solutions will be accepted, so the lights will continue to blink red for the time being.
