Using funding from state gas-tax revenues, Austin will replace two lights near Austin High School this August, which may result in closure of single lanes during installation, according assistant city engineer Steve Lang.

“There will be underground work and work above ground, so we may have to narrow the road,” Lang said, adding that he anticipated that the project would conclude this fall.

About $230,000 will be spent on traffic signals on intersections at Fourth Street Southwest and Oakland Avenue West and Fourth Street and First Avenue Southwest.

Lang said signals were so old, the parts were becoming obsolete, one of two reasons the city chose to replace them.

“They were installed in the 1970s,” he said.

The second reason pertains to safety; Lang said these new lights will mirror those at South Main Street and First Avenue, which offer more visibility for drivers.

On Monday, the city council unanimously approved the bid to Mankato Electric for $231,629. Lang said the equipment needs two months of lead time.

Wal-Mart, which is scheduled to open its new store on 18th Avenue Northwest mid-July, is also installing new traffic lights at the intersections of Fourth Street Northwest and 18th Avenue and Eighth Street Northwest and 18th.

As part of its permit conditions, the company was required to install the lights, as well as build road infrastructure. The new build was approved the summer of 2006.

Lang said the signals would likely be operational in the next two weeks.