Moore installs new type of traffic light near school
For The Oklahoman
MOORE — The city has installed a new type of pedestrian crossing light at SE 4 and S Bouziden Drive that is designed to stop traffic only as needed. It will allow students and others to cross SE 4, which is also State Highway 37, in front of Highland East Junior High School, 1200 SE 4.
Classes resume Friday in the Moore school district. The new signal light is at an existing crosswalk and is called a HighIntensity Activated Cross Walk, or HAWK.
Unlike a standard traffic signal, there is not a green light. Motorists will see two horizontal red lights over one yellow light. The lights remain dark until activated by a person who wants to cross the four-lane street.
Drivers should slow when the light flashes yellow. The solid yellow light means prepare to stop. As usual, red means stop. Flashing red means the pedestrian crossing time is almost up.
Oncoming motorists must stop, but can continue after yielding to pedestrians in the crosswalk. Motorists no longer have to stop after the signal goes dark.
Pedestrians will have visual and audible signals. They will see a "don't cross" hand signal when drivers see the flashing yellow light and the solid yellow light.
When the lights are red for drivers, pedestrians will see a white "walk" symbol and hear "The walk light is on to cross Fourth Street."
As the walk time expires, pedestrians will see the "don't walk" symbol and hear a countdown telling them how many seconds remain.
Dustin Horstkoetter, the school district's director of safety and security, said a crossing guard will be at the crosswalk to help students get across SE 4. Highland East Junior High School has seventh- and eighthgrade students.
Jared Jakubowski, the city's grants manager, said the system was paid for by a federal Department of Housing and Urban Development disaster recovery grant. Highland East was damaged by the May 20, 2013, tornado.
The new light system is part of the city's effort to increase walkability. The sidewalk along the school is part of a multiuse trail that goes from Eastern Avenue to Veterans Memorial Park, 1900 SE 4, a distance of about one and a half miles.
The new signal cost about $128,000. There are other signals of its kind in the Oklahoma City metro area, but this is the first one in Moore, Jakubowski said.
"There’s going to be a learning curve, but I think once people understand the signal, it’s going to improve safety for our students and our drivers," Assistant City Manager Todd Jenson said.
Melissa Smuzynski, a spokeswoman for the city, said that because SE 4 is a state highway, the HAWK was the only type of crossing signal permitted. Staff Writer etapia@oklahoman.com
Community outreach is on the agenda for Painted Sky Opera as it moves into its second season.
Owner Barbara DeMaio is hoping high school students will attend a free viewing of an opera performance.
"Outreach is a big part of what we do," DeMaio said.
On Oct. 5, high school students can get a behind-the-scenes tour and see a performance of "Tosca" in the Freede Theatre at Civic Center Music Hall.
There will be three performances for the public on Oct. 6-8.
DeMaio is hoping to attract students from across the metro area for the free student performance. She hopes to fill up the auditorium and give students an introduction to opera.
“If we can get them into the theater, we think they will like it,” DeMaio said. She thinks introducing them to opera during a live performance could help them better appreciate the art form.
Last year, the Painted Sky Opera took its programming to more than 700 students across the metro area.
The company also will perform "Three Decembers," an American opera about the AIDS crisis and how one family lives with it for three decades. Each scene explores a struggle the family has when the secret is revealed.
"We are really excited about this one because it is a brand-new opera," DeMaio said. "It has only been performed a couple of times and this is the Oklahoma premiere."
DeMaio hopes to include an American opera every season, along with one of the major top-20 operas.
"One part of our mission is that we want to promote American opera," DeMaio said. "We want to share American opera with people who do not know about it.”
On Nov. 10, the group will hold a gala on the 14th floor of the Skirvin Hilton Hotel.
"We are really excited about it and have been planning it all summer," DeMaio said. "We are hoping that people will come with the masks that you have on a stick.”
The event will include fundraisers such as a silent auction to help produce Painted Sky performances.
Tickets are $150, with a 10-person table for $1,200 or $2,500 for a VIP table.
Season tickets are on sale at the Civic Center box office, 201 N Walker, or at 297-2264. For more information, go to www. paintedskyopera.org.