Traffic light at Garland Road and Emerald Isle. Photo by John Botefuhr.
Update (March 1): The traffic signal met Warrant 1 (8-hour volume warrant) and Warrant 2 (4-hour volume warrant) of the Texas Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices.
In January, a traffic signal was installed at the intersection of Emerald Isle Drive and Garland Road.
It was placed on the westbound side of Garland Road, but there wasn’t one for traffic heading east.
The intersection, located near the White Rock Shopping Center, is a popular entry point to Winfrey Point and White Rock Lake. When we initially reported the news, owners of two businesses in the shopping center told us they had seen more issues coming from the other side of the shopping center, closer to Chick-fil-A.
Since then, we have heard back with the City of Dallas. The City told us construction plans call for a full traffic signal installation at Emerald Isle and Garland Road, and funding for the signals is coming from the 2017 Bond Program. The intersection met the criteria for a signal based on “traffic volumes,” a spokesperson for the City told The Advocate. We followed up last week to ask for more details about that, but we are waiting for a response.
In another case, the discussion around a traffic signal at Abrams Road and Lakeshore, the City’s director for the department of transportation referenced the 2011 Texas Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices. This manual was used to help City staff determine whether a traffic signal was justified for that particular intersection.
Here are some guidelines outlined in the manual:
“A traffic control signal should not be installed unless an engineering study indicates that installing a traffic control signal will improve the overall safety and/or operation of the intersection.
“A traffic control signal should not be installed if it will seriously disrupt progressive traffic flow.
There are nine warrants included in the manual. Three of them — eight-hour vehicular volume, four-hour vehicular volume and peak hour — are related to traffic volume.
We asked the City which, if any, of the nine warrants were met at the Emerald Isle-Garland intersection. And we will provide an update when we get a response.
This signal is one more light added to a short segment of Garland Road; there are already three lights within 1 mile.
Map showing stoplights along Garland Road.
