ST. LOUIS–City officials are trying to find out why a traffic signal head rotated out of position twice within the last week at an intersection that was the scene of a fatal accident Saturday in South St. Louis

The city’s Citizens Service Bureau was first alerted Wednesday about the signal on the southeast corner of Bates and Morganford and a city spokesman says it was fixed the following day at 11 a.m.

On Saturday around 12:35 p.m., two vehicles crashed at the intersection, killing the driver of one vehicle and injuring his passenger. The driver of the other vehicle refused treatment at the scene. 

Police said over the weekend the traffic signal on the southeast corner of the intersection for eastbound Bates was turned facing southbound traffic on Morgan Ford.

Monday night, a city spokesman said the signal was fixed again shortly after the crash.

“This particular intersection features multiple signals in each direction in case one goes out of service. There have been no recent reports of damage to signals at the other three corners, and as such the Traffic Division will be investigating the cause of the damage and possible remedies to prevent future damage to the signal at this location,” the city said.

This accident, and another over the weekend that killed four people overnight Sunday, including three teenagers, when their vehicle was struck by a driver who ran a red light at South Grand and Forest Park, comes as St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones is set to sign a $74 million measure Wednesday using federal pandemic American Rescue Plan Act funds that will spend $12 million on traffic calming and road improvements, $14.5 million on ADA compliance and other traffic calming improvements and $3.5 million for safety improvements at the top ten crash locations in St. Louis.