Traffic light outage at busy UAB intersection raises safety concerns

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — A traffic light at the intersection of 14th Street South and 10th Avenue South, located in front of the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) dorms, remains out of service following Tuesday's storms, raising safety concerns among students and residents.

Roshni, a UAB student, expressed her worries about the intersection. "It is a little unsafe having to cross here and I've been trying to avoid this intersection actually but it's kind of unavoidable because I live right there," she said.

The intersection, which experiences high levels of both foot and vehicle traffic, has become a source of stress for many. Abbie Waters, another UAB student, said, "It's just stressful because they're supposed to stop."

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The Birmingham Department of Transportation has not placed a stop sign at the intersection, citing a lack of signage for every intersection and potential confusion if the light resumes operation. Waters questioned the absence of a stop sign, noting, "It doesn't make since why we don't have a stop sign helping because as we've heard there's been at least two honks since we've been talking."

Roshni suggested an alternative solution, saying, "I think maybe having police directing cars around here but I understand it might be difficult to have them for multiple hours a day." However, the department stated that the Birmingham Police Department does not have the manpower to direct traffic when lights are out.

The department explained that the outage is due to a loss of power, a common occurrence during storms, and emphasized that drivers should treat the intersection as a four-way stop. Despite the restoration of power, the traffic light remains non-operational, and the department has not provided a timeline for when it will be fixed.