A new traffic signal at the southeast entryway to Woodland means residents in the area will have shorter driving times in the future.

The signal at the intersection of County Road 25A and County Road 102 closes a gap between major highways.

Once the signal became operational this week, barricades at Parkland Avenue and Miekle Avenue were removed, which allowed through access to CR-25A. That, in turn, lets motorists travel between Hwy. 113 and CR-102, cutting drive times for those living in the Southeast Area of Woodland who might work in Davis or Sacramento.

City officials reported recently that a majority of the roadway improvements — including roundabouts — were finished last summer, but “traffic signal equipment and street lights were long lead time items that pushed project competition out to early 2025.”

CR-25A has long been delayed. When the roadway projects were first proposed in 2009, the segment from Promenade Drive to Parkland Avenue was removed in order to lower housing construction costs during the Great Recession and “encourage continued build-out of the Spring Lake Specific Plan.”When the plan was updated in 2017, the roadway portion of CR-25A was deferred again to ensure sufficient funding in the neighborhood’s capital fund to “construct higher priority infrastructure projects necessary to complete the build-out of the specific plan areas.”

In April 2023, however, after a review of fund balances and projected remaining fee revenue from the Spring Lake Infrastructure Fee, city staff determined that there could potentially be sufficient funds available to pay for this project.

At the time, Councilwoman Mayra Vega, who represents the Spring Lake community, said these projects have been long anticipated by her constituents.

“Many of the conversations I’ve had with community members out there are about how completing that 25A project is going to significantly impact for the better the traffic patterns,” she said. “I look forward to supporting this project and I know many of the community members in the neighborhood are going to be very happy to hear once that’s approved.”