Dec. 22. By Dave Vieser. If it seems like traffic congestion on West Catawba Avenue has been worse lately, you’re right — and it’s not just because of heavier holiday traffic.

“The contractor building the convenience store on (West) Catawba near the Nantz Road intersection damaged one of the traffic signal detection loops at the Nantz Road light while working in the area,” said Tyler Beardsley, Cornelius public works director. “We notified the DOT earlier this month. DOT and the signals contractor are working to get this repaired as soon as possible.”

For motorists attempting to travel through Cornelius or reach local businesses during the holiday season, the fix can’t come soon enough. The damaged loops mean the signal does not function properly or respond to the number of vehicles attempting to turn onto Nantz Road. That has resulted in long delays, especially for southbound traffic on West Catawba, at times backing up as far as Bethel Church Road.

The damaged signal is not the only reason traffic has been congested on Catawba Avenue in recent weeks. Earlier this month, a contractor working on the Junker apartment project installed bollards between lanes on West Catawba on a Saturday, closing one lane at a time. Bollards are short, sturdy posts — often made of metal, concrete, plastic or wood — used to control or direct traffic.

“These bollards were a requirement of the Junker apartments to make one of the driveways right-in, right-out,” Beardsley said. “However, the town was not notified of this work. If we had been, we would have encouraged night work and pushed out a notification to our citizens.”

Town officials said they are hopeful the traffic signal at Nantz Road will be repaired soon.