The new light at Burbank Drive and West Parker Boulevard is up and running after traffic engineers finished working on it Tuesday afternoon.
Sarah Edel, traffic engineer for the Department of Public Works, said the light was turned on for good Tuesday afternoon, along with the electric crosswalk signals.
Previous estimates from the traffic engineers at the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development predicted a summer activation of the new traffic light.
Lauren Lee, a public information officer for the DOTD, said the Department of Public Works Traffic Engineer Office will be responsible for managing and maintaining the signal.
The next step in traffic improvements on Burbank will be the removal of the light at Burbank and East Boyd Drive, but the timetable for that has not been determined, Edel said.
Edel said the long-term plan is to turn Burbank into a five-lane highway with turning lanes, but that project will be managed by the state.
The activation of a traffic light at Burbank and West Parker is one phase of a larger plan to revamp the area, including removing the light at East Boyd and Burbank.
Once DOTD removes the East Boyd traffic signal, stop signs will take its place along the two-lane road, Lee told The Daily Reveille last fall. Although the state will fund the construction, the city of Baton Rouge will maintain the traffic signals once they’re up and running, she said.
