By Kathleen Acuff

New signals installed by the city of Mountain View are counting down the seconds for Los Altos pedestrians crossing at seven intersections on El Camino Real. They may save lives. They have already saved a bundle of money.

The city had considered paying twice as much in late 2004 for pedestrian countdown signals on the busy thoroughfare at Del Medio Avenue, San Antonio Road, Showers Drive, Jordan Avenue, Ortega Avenue, Distel Drive and Rengstorff Avenue. They were installed in December and January for $285 per unit, about half the $500-$600 estimated about 16 months ago.

Why the big price difference?

“We retrofitted 68 intersections in Mountain View, and seven of those were partially in Los Altos. Because we had such a high quantity, we were able to get a good price per unit and pass it on to Los Altos,” said Mountain View City Engineer Tim Ko.

Los Altos, Mountain View and Caltrans share responsibility for those intersections. Mountain View installed the signals on the Los Altos side of the intersections when it installed them on its own side. Last month, the Los Altos City Council approved reimbursing its neighbor for the $6,555 installation cost. The money will come out of the Traffic Control operating budget.

The intersections are among the 23 signal-installation sites recommended by the Los Altos Traffic Commission in November 2004 and listed as “unscheduled” in the 2005-2010 capital improvement program. The other Los Altos signals are along Foothill Expressway from Edith Avenue to Homestead Road.

In October 2004, city staff recommended a two-year phase-in of countdown signals in areas where speed limits were 35 mph or more, or where vehicle or pedestrian traffic was hig all intersections on El Camino Real and Foothill Expressway and 13 other locations in Los Altos.