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Another one bites the dust!
The city’s Public Works Department will remove the traffic signal at the intersection of 8th Street and Highway 62 East today, marking the first time in recent memory that a Mountain Home traffic signal is leaving on its own terms.
The Arkansas Department of Transportation, which has been conducting a study on traffic lights along Highway 62, decided to permanently remove the signal after a temporary glitch took the light out of commission for about half a day earlier this year. City officials noticed traffic actually flowed better without it.
The signal had long been considered problematic, sitting at an awkward turn between downtown and the Baxter County Sheriff’s Office. It was the middle signal in a series of three lights that also includes signals at 5th Street near the Sheriff’s Office and at 6th Street.
The intentional removal stands in contrast to the city’s previous traffic signal losses. In 2024, a drunk driver took out the signal near the Baxter County Courthouse off the square. Later that year, 72-year-old John Surber Jr. allegedly crashed into the control box at Highway 62B and Arkansas Highway 5 North after fleeing from police with a blood alcohol content of .13.
At the time, City Clerk Scott Liles called it “a bad year to be a traffic signal in Mountain Home.”
As part of today’s removal, the section of West 8th Street between Highway 62 and Hickory Street will be permanently vacated and barricaded. Stop signs will be added on East 8th Street and South Main Street in place of the signal.
Work will take place during daytime hours with traffic control measures in place. Drivers should expect lane shifts, reduced speeds and possible short delays in the area.
The city asks motorists to use extra caution, obey posted signs and flaggers, and consider alternate routes.
For those keeping score at home: Mountain Home 1, Traffic Lights 2.
