The University Park City Council on Tuesday reversed an earlier decision to remove the blinking red stoplights at the intersection of Airline Road and Southwestern Boulevard.
In April, the council followed a recommendation from city staff and an outside consultant by declaring the lights obsolete, and directed workers to put bags over them to prepare for their removal. The idea was to wait 90 days and study the intersection with four-way stop signs.
However, a handful of residents subsequently protested the decision to remove the lights, citing concerns over safety, especially with the potential for increased traffic through the area if Highland Park ISD follows through with plans to build a fifth elementary school a few blocks away.
The idea to remove the lights — and the 44-page consultant report that followed — was prompted by a request from a property owner at the intersection who no longer lives there. He originally told council members that everyone at the corner was in agreement that the lights should be discarded, when in fact that wasn’t the case.
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Tuesday’s council vote to keep the lights was unanimous, with Mayor Olin Lane noting the “anticipation of additional traffic in the future” as a reason for changing course.
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