Lightning strikes near Folsom, damaging traffic signals at 3 intersections, police say

Lightning during Wednesday’s thunderstorm caused damage to traffic signals at three intersections in Folsom, police said Thursday morning.

Folsom Police Department spokesman Sgt. Andrew Bates said public works crews are still determining what exactly was damaged and needs to be repaired, as it is not known exactly where the lightning struck or how many times it did so.

Three intersections along Folsom Boulevard are affected: at Natoma Street, at Glenn Drive and at Bidwell Street, Bates said.

As a result, the traffic signals at those intersections the stuck at a “4-way flash,” indicating they should be treated like a stop sign. However, all three of those intersections include light-rail crossings; Bates said the light-rail arms are stuck down, but Regional Transit crews are on-site manually raising them to allow traffic through.

“It’s all part of the same problem,” Bates said.

Glenn and Bidwell are three-way intersections, while Natoma is a four-way intersection including Forrest Street.

Folsom Boulevard is a long, busy commuter roadway, but the affected area is not an especially busy one for traffic, Bates said.

“We don’t expect it to be a gridlock situation, but we want to let people know as they come through there that they should plan for an extra 10 or 15 minutes.”

Thunderstorms and rain hit the Sacramento region Wednesday after light showers Tuesday.

This story was originally published October 4, 2018 at 8:20 AM.