If you’re an Emery County resident you will no longer be able to tell people you live in a county without traffic lights. The first permanent traffic light is being installed in Huntington. The construction has been on going the past two weeks. The light is being installed at the corner of 100 North and Main.
The Utah Department of Transportation hired Cache Valley Electric to do the work and the light should be functional any day. UDOT said the corner warranted a stop light especially with all the new traffic from the coal trucks now. UDOT also said another location in town might be the site of the second stop light within the county. It was noted in the meeting that parking around the elementary school might have to be altered a little with the new configuration of the road because of the stop light. Some angled parking might have to go to parallel parking. Coal is being trucked into the Huntington power plant and coal trucks are coming from the south along Huntington Main Street. Crossing guards say the traffic gets really busy in the afternoon. They encourage everyone to be extra careful in that area with the construction and also when the traffic light begins working. The crossing guards have held training on how to cross the children once the light begins to function.
The sidewalks and wheelchair access on the four corners is also being addressed. This is a busy corner with the post office and the elementary school on the same block.
Long-time Huntington fireman Warren Oviatt was officially retired from the Huntington fire department with a ceremony honoring the 37 year veteran worker for the city. Former fire Chief Pete Alger read a testimonial to Oviatt in honor of his faithful service. Councilman Jerry Livingston, who is over the fire department, also brought up the fact that the Huntington department does not have a “jaws of life” which helps in accessing wrecked vehicles.
It was also noted that the new Family Dollar store is moving along quite rapidly and should be open sometime in the spring. This store replaced the old theatre that had been in a state of disrepair for some time.
Huntington city welcomed two new businesses to town, Kelli’s T-Shirt shop on Main Street and Justin’s Resealing business. The latter is a resealing business for wood floors.
Mayor Hilary Gordon appointed Becky Jorgenson and Lesa Miller to the city planning and zoning council to replace Mark Reynolds and Cathy Cowley.
Councilman Mark Justice who is over the street department led a discussion on the location of stop signs within the city. Justice believes that some might need to be removed, some changed to yield signs and others left alone. The City will review next month.
The City also had a discussion on weekend openings and closings at the cemetery and decided to change the fees charged to more accurately reflect the actual charge of the men working on weekends. The City auditor also encouraged the city to look at the amount charged for water and sewer and to maybe alter those bills to build a fund that could better handle major emergency.
The next Huntington City council meeting will be on Feb. 18.
First permanent traffic light ever in Emery County
"Work continues on the new traffic lights at the corner of 100 North and Main Street in Huntington. The first permanent traffic light in the county."