Fresno spent $2.4 million to activate a single traffic light: Jalopnik

With over 550,000 residents, Fresno is California’s fifth largest city, but not nearly as glamorous as most other major California cities, despite having a double speed bump that shoots cars into the air. It is an integral American agricultural hub with nearly 2 million acres of farmland, so it has a unique mix of urban, suburban and rural communities. That also means it’s extremely car-oriented and its residents rely heavily on highways, but getting onto those highways can take a while. Non-functioning traffic lights continued to harass frustrated commuters at a busy four-way intersection leading to Highway 180 for 10 months, but the city finally activated the signal earlier this month and it cost the city just $2.4 million.

Temporary stop signs caused significant delays at the intersection of Fowler and Olive avenues during the 10 months the traffic lights were covered in black plastic. According to GVWire, Provincial data shows that the provisional technical permit for these traffic lights started seven years ago in 2018. A traffic light installation just 1.5 miles away took just three months from ground marking to activation.

Planning for the installation of this traffic signal took years as the county had to acquire the land, secure rights-of-way, purchase equipment, and remove trees; all of which added up to the eye-watering price. According to GVWire, “Although the signal was a county project, the city of Fresno had to give the final sign and the county had to build to the city’s standards. The land is within the city’s sphere of influence — meaning it could eventually be annexed — so the city will maintain the signal.”

State grants helped pay for the signal, but Fresno County Supervisor Nathan Magsig, who represents the area, said planning should have started proactively more than a decade ago as Highway 180 expanded east.

The reason the nearby traffic signal took only three months to install instead of the seven years it took for the signal at Fowler and Olive avenues comes down to zoning. The $2.4 million signal was a county project that had to be built to the standards of the city of Fresno, which also had to sign off on the contract. The city of Fresno will move the signal forward and traffic at the intersection has already decreased.