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New pedestrian-scale LED street lights are shining at two of downtown Stillwater’s four Main Street intersections, and the solar-powered LED stop signs replacing former traffic signals are now installed at all three converted intersections — though the lamp post work at one location is not yet finished.

Stillwater Electric Utility has completed installation of the new lamp posts at South Main Street and 7th and 8th avenues as part of a $173,000 downtown overhaul the City Council authorized in January. The stop signs themselves went in at 7th, 8th, and 9th avenues in early June, according to Capital Program Manager Jordan Coirier, who reported on the project at the June 25 Transportation Project Advisory Committee meeting.

“Stillwater Electric Utility followed up with the replacement of the street lamps as well,” Coirier told the committee. “Those are the ones that match Block 34. So that looks great.”

The lamp post installation at 9th Avenue has not been completed. City Engineer Bill Millis told the committee the goal was to finish that work by the end of June.

Coirier said the completed intersections have drawn positive feedback, and drivers adjusted quickly after a brief overlap period during the transition.

Roundabout Rehabilitation Underway

The roundabout at 10th Avenue and Main Street — a separate project from the $173,000 conversion — is in design. Gose & Associates, a local civil engineering firm, has begun work on the rehabilitation plan. Coirier said the design is expected to take about four weeks, after which the city will put the project out for bid.

Construction is targeted to start in late August or early September, with a goal of completing the work before homecoming in early October. The construction phase is estimated to take four to five weeks.

“It’s going to be a very quick turnaround for the roundabout rebuild — about a four-week design — and then we will go out to bid and hopefully start construction sometime late August, early September, trying to get ahead of the homecoming season in early October,” Coirier said at the June 25 meeting.

The council approved $165,000 for the roundabout rehabilitation, covering both design and construction. The rehab plan calls for new street lights at each corner of the intersection, solar-powered embedded lights around the center island, wall reconstruction with integrated lighting, and improved approach lane signage and striping.