A developer has installed a full set of traffic signals at the intersection of Church Hill Road (US Route 6) and The Boulevard, setting the stage for better-regulated traffic flow along the heavily traveled Church Hill Road corridor, an area of town with dense commercial development.

The signals, which have yet to be activated, will control traffic flow at the four-way intersection of Church Hill Road, The Boulevard, and the main driveway for The Village at Lexington Gardens, a new retail center that remains under construction.

The Church Hill-Boulevard intersection is a hazardous junction where many collisions occur. Those crashes often involve eastbound motorists on Church Hill Road driving into the rear end of vehicles that are waiting to make a left turn onto the northbound Boulevard. Also, southbound motorists on The Boulevard who are seeking to make turns onto Church Hill Road have very limited sight lines when looking eastward to the left due to a curving Church Hill Road and the presence of vegetation.

Boulevard residents have long called for traffic signals at the intersection. However, traffic signals were not approved for the intersection until September 2012, when a developer gained Borough Zoning Commission (BZC) approval for the redevelopment of 30 Church Hill Road. That site now holds five commercial buildings, four of which are new construction, and one of which will be renovated.

There are eight shrouded signal-head fixtures in the traffic signal array. The signals have glare shields to make them easier to see during bright conditions.

The new signals are intended to better control traffic flow on Church Hill Road near The Boulevard and The Village at Lexington Gardens. The new signals will be synchronized with other traffic signals in that area to keep traffic flowing through the general area.

State Department of Transportation (DOT) spokesman Kevin Nursick said October 11 that because more construction work remains to be done at the new retail center, a DOT inspection on the signals' operation has not yet been scheduled.

It is expected that the new signals will be working sometime this fall, he said.

In September 2012, the BZC approved the new retail center for a 6.3-acre site. Plans approved by the BZC list constructing 60,500 square feet of new commercial space in the form of four two-story buildings.

Each new building has retail space at ground level and office space on the second story. To make way for that new construction, the former Lexington Gardens plant nursery and garden shop was demolished.

A flat-roofed, two-story, red-brick 16,000-square-foot commercial building located near Church Hill Road, commonly known as the Morganti building, will receive a variety of external improvements to enhance its appearance, making it visually complementary to the new construction.

The BZC's 2012 redevelopment approval required that the new traffic signals be installed as part of the retail project.