The Department of Transportation has signed off on plans for a new traffic signal at Howard Road and Ga. 365, putting the ball back in the court of RaceTrac and the city of Gainesville to begin the work.

Gainesville Traffic Engineer Dee Taylor said the next step will be getting all of the necessary equipment and handing that off to the installation contractor, which will be hired by RaceTrac.

“They award the job to a signal contractor, then they’ll go forward with installing the traffic signal itself,” he said.

The exact timeline, though, is up in the air, he said.

“It’s a No. 1 priority for all three groups involved — us and DOT and RaceTrac development,” he added. “They’ve been a huge help involving their people with this process, helping us along.”

Hall County-based DOT spokeswoman Teri Pope said the department’s role at this point is to make sure the work is done to standards and to test it before it goes live.

Sherri Daye Scott, director of communications with RaceTrac, said the company did not have an update.

The project became a priority after an April 28 crash that killed Anna Hermansen of Clayton. In a letter from the Hall County Board of Commissioners to the DOT, commissioners cited 14 crashes in that area in 2012.

The DOT had planned flashing yellow lights and new lane striping, but no signal. A study of the intersection had shown it did not meet any of the thresholds for installing a signal, DOT officials said.

After the April wreck, Gov. Nathan Deal’s Chief of Staff, Chris Riley, and Governor’s Office of Highway Safety Director, Harris Blackwood, expressed concerns about the intersection to DOT Commissioner Keith Golden.