GLENDALE : Home Depot Offers to Pay for Signal

City officials praised a home-improvement chain this week for offering to foot the bill for a traffic signal to make it easier for customers to get in and out of its Glendale store.

The Glendale City Council approved an agreement with Home Depot Inc. under which the store will pay $95,000 to install a traffic signal at the corner of San Fernando Road and Harvard Street.

The store wants the signal because traffic on the heavily traveled thoroughfare often makes it difficult for customers to get in and out of its parking lot, and it offered to fund the project to encourage the city to approve it quickly, said Public Works Director George Miller.

Miller said the Georgia-based home-improvement chain will pay for all expenses related to the signal, including the design, construction, electrical connections, insurance and permits.

The store also has offered to hire a private contracting firm to do the work, eliminating the need to go through the city’s competitive bidding procedure, which would delay construction by up to 12 weeks, he said. After the signal is built, it will become city property.

The City Council approved a plan last year that will add a number of traffic signals to intersections along San Fernando Road, but it did not call for a signal at Harvard Street. Although there have been no serious accidents at Harvard Street and San Fernando Road recently, Miller said traffic studies indicate a signal would make the intersection safer.

But Jean Felkel, a longtime resident of the neighborhood near the store, disagreed. She said the signal is unnecessary and will make it inconvenient for local drivers.

“I consider (Home Depot) a good neighbor, and if they put the $95,000 into just cleaning up their property every day, I’d be happy with that,” Felkel said.