Plans to install a new traffic signal at the intersection of Sommers Boulevard and Hwy. 17 may be one step closer to fruition after decisions made at a called meeting Tuesday by the Richmond Hill City Council.
The council unanimously approved to allow city attorney Ray Smith to proceed with condemnation procedures of property currently owned by Travel Centers of America (TA) Truck Stop to obtain the right of way needed for a traffic signal at the intersection of Sommers Boulevard and Hwy. 17.
The council also unanimously approved to allow Smith to proceed with a condemnation process to receive a perpetual easement from the McDonald’s on Hwy. 17, which Smith said would b necessary to put the traffic light utilities on that property.
“McDonald’s retains the land, we just have the right to put our stuff there,” Smith explained.
Smith told the council the state Department of Transportation approved a request from the city last year to install a traffic signal at the intersection of Sommers Boulevard and Hwy. 17 due to heavy traffic.
“It’s in the afternoons and in the mornings that truckers appear to be having a very difficult time turning into the Sommers Oil Co. and TA Truck Stop,” Smith said.

Read more in the Sept. 10 edition of the News.