Traffic lights began guiding drivers at the intersection of Green Level to Durham Road and Cary Glen Boulevard on Thursday, seven weeks after a teenager died in a traffic accident there.

Neighbors had long complained about the lack of a traffic signal at the intersection.

After the death of Kailee Nicole Birdsong in June, residents held a protest and lobbied Town Council to install the lights. It can take six months to plan and install traffic lights, but town worked with the state transportation officials and Progress Energy to speed the process.

The installation cost $60,000, which was shared by the town and the state Department of Transportation.

Electrical worker hospitalized

HOLLY SPRINGS Emergency workers airlifted a subcontractor to the hospital Thursday after he was shocked and knocked unconscious while working on an electrical system at the town's wastewater treatment plant.

The unidentified man is a 34-year-old employee of Via Electric, which was hired to work at the Utley Wastewater Treatment Plant near N.C. 55.

The accident occurred just before 11 a.m. when "electricity [in a 480-volt panel] arced, struck him in the head and knocked him unconscious," Holly Springs spokeswoman Joni Powell said.

A town employee administered CPR after the man stopped breathing.

He was taken to WakeMed in Raleigh and later flown to the Jaycee Burn Center at UNC Hospitals in Chapel Hill. He was in critical but stable condition.

Bird prompts

RDU landing

MORRISVILLE A bird strike caused a Northwest Airlines flight to make an emergency landing at Raleigh-Durham International Airport. Minutes after departing RDU about 8:30 a.m. last Sunday, the Minneapolis-bound flight hit a bird, causing the captain to shut down the left engine, Northwest spokeswoman Leslie Parker said.

The plane arrived safely at RDU at 9:02 a.m., with 148 passengers and five crew members.