OPINION
It's amazing the difference traffic lights can make.
In recent weeks, the Texas Department of Transportation turned on the lights at U.S. 377 and Washington Street as well as the intersection of U.S. 377 and Stewart Road/ Arvin Hill Road in Krugerville.
That's on top of the lights that were added at U.S. 377 and Liberty Road south of Krugerville, at the intersection of Sherman Drive in Aubrey and the two in Tioga, one where 377 intersects FM 121 and one at FM 922.
I've heard and seen some frustrations about lights dotting the formerly rural area.
That seems to be because they are a reminder that it's no longer a place where you can count the cars that pass by, as some of the area's residents could in years past.
Others complain because it's a personal inconvenience to have to slow to a stop where they previously could fly through an intersection.
I see the lights in a different way.
I see the breaks in traffic when I'm trying to cross U.S. 377 to get back onto Northside Drive in Pilot Point. I see the concrete trucks having to wait their turn off of Stewart Road.
I see people having the chance to turn safely off of Washington Street onto 377 around Tiger Mart at high-traffic times.
These lights will save lives, which is the most important part about them.
They will also save time and money for the drivers on these roadways and for the first responders who handle emergency calls at those intersections.
We will, and we need to, see more lights go up.
They are worth the wait.
Abigail Bardwell is the Editor & Publisher of the Post-Signal. She can be reached at [email protected].
