City of Decorah hopes it has some answers to semis knocking down traffic signals

Five times in recent months, a semi has collided with a traffic signal on Water Street, knocking it over.  On two of those times, the driver hasn't stopped--leaving the city to pay the $5,000 to $7,000 repair bill.

But City of Decorah officials are optimistic they have some ideas which will help reduce the problem.  They say the semis may be getting sent through downtown Decorah because of inaccurate GPS data which believes the Highway 9 bike trail bridge is too low for semis.  That's only the case in the right lanes of Highway 9, but there's 14 feet of clearance in the center lanes.  City officials are trying to figure out how to get the GPS Information changed.

Another promising idea is to paint over the right hand lane on northbound Mechanic Street at Water Street.  All traffic then would use the left lane--for left turns, right turns or going straight ahead.  City officials are considering painting yellow stripes on the right lane to show it is closed to traffic and to force semis turning right to do so from the center lane.  Signs would also be put up showing the right lane is closed.

In the meantime, Decorah Police are still looking for clues about the driver and company of the semi involved in the latest traffic signal accident.  It's the fifth such accident--but City of Decorah officials hope that with the right steps, there won't be a sixth accident.