HELENA — Traffic lights at the intersection of Last Chance Gulch, Neill Avenue, and Helena Avenue - often referred to as "Mini-Malfunction Junction - have been out since mid-July.
MTN News viewer Marty Thieltges wanted to know what is going on, so we went to the City of Helena transportation systems director David Knoepke to find out.
The reason the lights went out is still a mystery, but it has to do with the system’s control box.
“We had a catastrophic failure of the control box,” Knoepke said. “What caused it? We’re not quite sure.”
Knoepke said it could have been a power surge or lightning strike, although he said no businesses in the area reported issues at the time. Whatever happened, it did extensive damage.
“You know, we’re not even sure fixing the control box would fix the lights,” Knoepke said. “Our contractor said there may be additional damage that went out from the control box.”
In place of the signals, the city installed stop signs at the intersection to direct traffic flow, and so far, Knoepke said that has been working well.
“We have received a lot of public comment that they like the stop signs better than signals,” he said.
There have been plans in the works for a while to replace the signals at mini-malfunction junction with a roundabout. Originally the project was scheduled for 2027, but due to the situation with the traffic lights, it could get fast-tracked.
“That would be dependent on it getting designed, getting the public comment done, getting approval, because this is a joint right-of-way jurisdiction with MDT, so we’d have to get their approval,” Knoepke said.
Knoepke said the earliest the roundabout project could start is next summer.
People can have a say in what happens at mini-malfunction junction between now and when the roundabout is built, comments can be submitted to the city online by clicking here.
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