Lonnie Anderson, a local civil engineer and property developer, asked the City of Aberdeen Council on Nov. 24 to direct the city engineer's office to reset twin entrance lights at Cedar Heights and Ashwood and to install twin lights at two intersections in Prairie's Edge. "I'm here to encourage you to direct your city Engineer's office to reset the entrance lights at both Cedar Heights and Ashford subdivisions by agreement," Anderson said.

Anderson said the lights originally installed by developers and maintained by a private utility replaced the city's street lights and, over 34 years, have saved the city "over a $150,000"; he added, "This year, it saves the city $7,700." He described the local conditions on Roosevelt, saying the first street light in parts of Prairie's Edge sits more than 400 feet from an intersection and that the spacing reduces visibility for turning drivers. "Slowing down at night to turn into these developments causes people to slow down more than normal because they can't see the entrance where they're gonna turn into the development," Anderson said, and he argued that earlier visibility would reduce the risk of rear-end collisions.

Anderson quantified the area affected as about 244 households and an estimated 500 vehicle turning movements per day between 8th Avenue and Fairgrounds Road. He also asked the council to treat similar developments uniformly and pointed to prior instances where the city added twin entrance lights in other subdivisions.

Mayor Shoneman thanked Anderson for the presentation and said city staff would meet with him to review the locations. "We'll meet up and we'll reconnect with you, and we'll have a look," the mayor said. No formal action was taken at the meeting; council members said staff would follow up and inspect the sites and review historic electrical drawings.

Next steps: staff said they would inspect the locations Anderson identified and report back to the council; no timeline was specified at the meeting.