Update: As of 3:05 p.m., the traffic signals at the intersection of El Camino Real, State Highway 237 and Grant Road were back on, according to Caltrans spokesperson Victor Gauthier.
The traffic signal went out at the intersection of El Camino Real, State Highway 237 and Grant Road in Mountain View Tuesday morning.
The Mountain View Police Department found out about the issue when one of its officers observed that the traffic light was not working Tuesday and saw Caltrans personnel on the scene assisting with traffic, police spokesperson Monica Leon told the Voice.
The police department issued a public notification on social media about the outage at 11:24 a.m., after verifying the information, Leon said. It is not known when the outage first occurred.
Caltrans spokesperson Victor Gauthier told the Voice that an electrical contractor is performing work for the El Camino repaving project and that the lights will be out until that work is complete. That’s expected to occur by 5 p.m. today, or sooner, Gauthier added. The project extends from Mountain View through Palo Alto and includes pedestrian and bicycle improvements.
The intersection should be treated as a four-way stop until the traffic signal is back on. Gauthier said that Caltrans has flaggers at each corner to assist commuters.The police department also encourages people to use an alternate route and to plan for extra time to get to their destination.
El Camino Real is a major commute corridor, which is formally known as State Route 82. It is managed by Caltrans, the state’s transportation department, rather than local cities.
The Grant/237 intersection has a history of vehicle collisions and pedestrian fatalities, including a 2022 crash that left a middle school student dead.
There have been multiple recent signal outages along El Camino, including at the El Monte Avenue and Miramonte Avenue intersections.
It’s back on now.
What I’m getting from this is that a planned outage with flagmen on scene is being portrayed as unplanned by both MVPD and the Voice. Slow news day?
Wait, what? Planned outage during commute hours? I didn’t catch that. That’s one of the worst intersections already.