Pine Grove – A new crosswalk and button-activated flashing light should be opening in Pine Grove sometime soon, with an aim to improve pedestrian safety – a good fact for the approaching Halloween holiday. The $69,000 project, with paint stripes and warning lights, is expected to be completed Friday at the corner of Highway 88 and Church Street in Pine Grove. Chantel Miller, Assistant Public Information Officer for the California Department of Transportation’s District 10, said this week that crosswalk is a safety project and was expected to be completed by Friday, (October 23rd). She said: “the project consists of a flashing beacon system and a new crosswalk,” and it will have paint striping marking the crossing area. Miller said it will have signs with flashing yellow lights located 140 to 180 feet in advance of the crosswalk, approaching from either direction. The yellow flashing beacons and signs will warn approaching motorists of the upcoming crosswalk. Miller said at the crosswalk, overhead flashing beacons will be installed. Pushing buttons on poles on either side of Highway 88 will activate the beacons for the pedestrians. The lights will be off, and when someone presses the button, the light starts to flash yellow to warn cars to stop or be aware of the crosswalk. Miller said the push-button activated lights are something Caltrans is starting to use more. She said it depends on what local traffic situations require, and it was determined that it would work best at that location, at Highway 88 and Church Street in Pine Grove. She said the project is not a Safe Routes To Schools project. Miller said it uses “100 percent state funding,” from safety improvement project funding. The cost of the project is $69,000, and the contractor is Tennyson Electric of Livermore. Story by Jim Reece This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it