Crystal Thomas
The State Journal-Register
With firefighter response times in southwest Springfield almost twice as much the city’s average, the fire chief asked aldermen Tuesday for money to buy a system that would coordinate traffic signals with emergency vehicles and reduce congestion.
Outfitting four fire vehicles and a few intersections along the Veterans Parkway corridor with the emergency vehicle pre-emption system would cost about $105,000, according to Fire Chief Barry Helmerichs. Helmerichs said that only 1.2 percent of the city’s calls come from that area, but the distance to the nearest fire station is long and the traffic is heavy. Plus, the average response time is 7:24, while the citywide average is 3:45.
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The money for the project would be a supplemental authorization from video gaming proceeds. While all the aldermen were in favor of the increased safety, some had concerns at the cost in a tight budget year.
Ward 7 Ald. Joe McMenamin pointed out there were other projects that needed to be addressed and could draw from the same fund. “The question is why aren’t we waiting for a budget session to let this be in competition with all the other projects that are out there,” McMenamin said.
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The ordinance will come up for debate during the next city council meeting on Nov. 21.
Joe McMenamin for Ward 7 