April 3. By Dave Vieser. Cornelius motorists can expect delays during the next several weeks at the intersection of West Catawba Avenue and Jetton while new pavement is put down on the Jetton Road extension. The reason: Traffic signal sensors buried in the old roadbed will need to be rebuilt and that can’t happen until the new pavement is done.

“Yes, the loops that detect cars will need to be replaced with the new pavement,” said Tyler Beardsley, assistant town manager. “For now, the signals are on a timed mode instead of using the detection loops.”

Longer waits?

What does this mean for motorists? Basically, longer waits to negotiate the intersection.

Details

When the signal loops are active, they sense how many cars need to be cleared through the intersection. However, when the signal goes to a timed cycle, it holds for a specific period of time and then changes.

The change will likely be most noticeable to motorists turning left or west onto Jetton Road from West Catawba Avenue. It meaans cars may back up onto the through lanes of Catawba until the sensors are rebuilt and reactivated.

The inconvenience is part of the rebuilding of Jetton Road extension to Liverpool Parkway. Beardsley said it should be all done by June.