Downtown Construction
Weekly Update - January 30, 2008

CONSTRUCTION NEWS:

• Installation of the traffic signal poles continued at Reading Road and West Main Street. Workers have installed the mast arms and wires.
• Installation of the streetlight fixtures on Mason-Montgomery Road continued. Crews have begun wiring for the streetlights.
• Duke Energy has relocated the power service for Agora Bookstore.

NOTES OF INTEREST:

• Due to the weather conditions, work will continue to be limited for the next several weeks. Work on the traffic signal and street lighting will continue as weather allows.
• Fun Fact: The world's first traffic light actually came BEFORE the automobile. Back then, traffic consisted only of pedestrians, buggies, and wagons. Installed at an intersection in London in 1868, the first traffic light was a revolving lantern with red and green signals. Red meant "stop", but green actually meant "caution." The lantern, illuminated by gas, was turned by means of a lever at its base so that the appropriate light faced traffic. That traffic light suddenly exploded, injuring the policeman who was operating it. As years passed, Garrett Morgan of Ohio refined the system to alleviate the growing need to control traffic flow. Though it looked more like the train crossing signals you see today, Morgan is credited with inventing the first electric automatic traffic light in 1923.

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