You weren’t imagining things if you thought there was a problem with the traffic lights around the square in Athens this past weekend. City officials said there was a mechanical issue that threw the lights out of sequence starting Friday afternoon.
A TxDOT crew was in Athens Monday to fix the issue. They weren’t the only folks from TxDOT in town, however.
At Monday’s City Council meeting, City Manager Philip Rodriguez told the council city staff met with state officials to discuss improving the traffic flow around the square using LED traffic lights to improve their visibility. No specific plan has been proposed as of yet, but Rodriguez told the council he would likely be presenting some suggestions at future council meetings.
Unlike ordinary incandescent bulbs, there is no filament. LED traffic signals use high-brightness LEDs connected together to build a cluster consisting of hundreds of LEDs. LED lights only produce light in the desired colors, such as red, yellow or green, making them ideal for traffic signals.
— Michael V. Hannigan