SALADO, Texas (KXXV) — Salado is getting its first-ever traffic light as more families and development move into the area.
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The signal is planned for the intersection of FM 2484 and FM 1670, where growth is now showing up on the road.
"Getting your first traffic light is kind of a big, it's a top ten sign you're growing," Salado Mayor Pro-Tem Neil Dunch said.
Dunch said the area has seen tremendous growth, with new homes and more young families moving in. Near the high school, that means more traffic.
"We've made several adjustments out that way, with the new high school, the traffic, you had to make improved safety, but in particular the intersection you're talking about is a highly congested area. So not only from a safety perspective but just navigating the traffic and getting a solid throughput through there," Dunch said.
The signal is a TxDOT project, and Dunch said it is needed to keep up with the traffic already moving through the area.
But for Larry Sands, who has called Salado home since the mid-1980s, the change would have been hard to imagine four decades ago.
"We have seen a tremendous amount of growth since my wife and I moved here in the mid-80s. But I want you to know that we want Salado to remain a village. And we tell everybody when they come to Salado we're not in the city of Salado we're in the village of Salado. I feel like the growth that Salado is experiencing right now without a doubt is good growth," Sands said.
Sands said he has watched new subdivisions and younger families arrive, with Salado's schools helping drive that growth. And while the village's first traffic light may be another sign of change, it is one he believes this busy intersection needs.
"I just realized that that was gonna probably be the first location of that traffic light and I'm glad to see it happening. The blinking stop lights are okay, but it really needs a traffic light there," Sands said.
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