HOGANSVILLE – The city of Hogansville has filed for a grant to have lighted crosswalks installed at different locations on Main Street, including one on the crosswalk at City Hall, one at the post office at First Baptist Church on 500 East Main Street, and one at Hogansville Elementary School.

“It will be a crossover overlay where lights will be put in similar to a reflector across the crosswalk, facing the traffic that’s coming up the crosswalk,” said Hogansville City Manager James Woods. “They’re LED lights and they flash, so if a car is coming up they will see the crosswalks lit up and with the reflector on the passenger side of the crosswalks, you will usually see a pedestrian crossing. The LED lights will be all around the border, so when it’s activated, the crosswalk lights up and the sign lights up.”

“So you got a real attention-grabbing system that draws your attention and says ‘This is a pedestrian crossing and somebody’s in the crossing.’ It only lights up when it’s activated,’” he said.

LED (light-emitting diode) lights are a semiconductor device that emits visible light when an electric current passes through it. The light is not particularly bright, but in most LEDs it is self-colored, occurring at a single wavelength.

Woods says lights at the crosswalks are needed because there have been a few instances in the city where pedestrians nearly got hit on the crosswalk. It was usually because they’re on the phone not paying attention or vehicles are just passing by with the driver unable to see the pedestrian.

“There are three ways the system can work and be activated,” said Woods. “One is we can push a button and it can turn the light system on. The second is using a pressure pad, so when a pedestrian walks up it turns the light on. Third, involves breaking a beam and the lights will then come on.”

At this point, Hogansville is unsure in which way the system will be installed.

“I don’t know which way we will install but we’ll look at the benefits of all three and make a decision when the bids are submitted…that’s assuming we get the grant,” said Woods.

The total cost for the project is $47,000, with the city of Hogansville paying 30 percent. The Georgia Department of Transportation will provide the rest of the funds at around $33,000-$34,000 if the grant is approved.

 

Reach James Simpson II at 706-884-7311, ext. 2155, or by email at james.simpson@lagrangenews.com