Craig Stough

The Sylvania River Trail/Harroun Road crossing light is now installed and should be energized by Toledo Edison and activated by the contractor soon.

The pedestrian crossing has been a safety concern since Phase 2 of the River Trail opened a few years ago. Harroun Road is often busy with traffic and is four lanes wide, so crossing can be hazardous. The new crossing light will improve pedestrian safety.

Although funded and approved more than a year ago, the construction has been delayed by pandemic-driven supply chain problems. The actual traffic lights were delivered earlier in the year, but the fabrication and delivery of the overhead poles took months longer than anticipated.

The crossing lights will be Pedestrian Hybrid Beacons (PHB), the first in the Sylvania area. Instead of simple flashing lights, these are modified traffic signals over each lane with multiple red lights on each to get the attention of oncoming drivers.

The lights will be dark until activated by a pedestrian pushing the button, at which time yellow lights and then red lights will activate to stop traffic. Visit the city of Sylvania’s website link: cityofsylvania.com/government/engineering/harroun-rd-phb/ to learn more about PHB lights and view a video prepared by the Ohio Department of Transportation to learn how to use them. This information has also been shared with the Sylvania Schools.

The cost of the project is $111,900, with $26,850 or 24 percent of the project cost coming from the Ohio Public Works Commission grant funds. The contractor is FET Electric of Sylvania. We look forward to the new PHB crossing signal being in service to improve the safety of our River Trail pedestrians and bikers.