CHELSEA – Temporary traffic signals should be installed at the intersection of Shelby County 11 and Shelby County 280 (Old Highway 280) in Chelsea the week of Monday, Jan. 21.

Shelby County Engineer Randy Cole said the temporary signals will be in place until permanent lights can be designed and ordered.

“Unfortunately, it takes many months to get poles (for permanent traffic signals),” Cole said. “There’s only one steel pole manufacturer in the country. We don’t even have the design completed at this point.”

The permanent poles and signals will be designed specific to the site, Cole said, but in the meantime, the temporary lights will function the same way as their forthcoming permanent counterparts.

However, motorists will notice that the temporary signals will be mounted on trailers instead of wood poles—a new approach for Shelby County.

“We’ve never used temporary signals like this before,” Cole said and added that they have been used elsewhere in the state and country. “We often install temporary signals, but we’ve never done this before with trailers.”

The trailers are being used instead of wood poles because of high-voltage utility lines in the area that make the use of wood poles unsafe.

The temporary signals should be installed by Friday, Jan. 25, weather permitting.