By Mayor Ron Messer
What seven letter word strikes terror in the hearts of drivers? T R A F F I C. I, like many of us, have experienced this terror. Even here in our great city, where we received an overall 97% satisfaction rating in our last residents’ survey, traffic was one of the top four things that was singled out for improvement. Here are just a few of the traffic comments.
“Traffic congestion in the downtown area during morning and evening rush hours.”
“Traffic congestion: Montgomery Road in the downtown area is a prime example.”
“Traffic is the most significant problem. Traffic lights specifically need to be timed.”
“Traffic in the downtown area. The traffic gets backed up regularly, and the addition
of new businesses and residences risk making it significantly worse.”
Your input was received and acted upon. We have since built and are using two roundabouts that are not only proven to reduce serious accidents but also reduce exhaust pollution by moving traffic more efficiently, thus reducing delay. However, we still have the challenge of moving over 29,000 vehicles daily on Montgomery Road. Many of us have been in a situation where we have been sitting, for what seems like an eternity, either on Montgomery Road or a side street, when there is little or no traffic in the direction that has the green light.
To meet this challenge, city council has approved and included in the budget the implementation of smart traffic lights and systems that utilize the latest technology on real time traffic data collection and then programs the signal to maximize traffic flow efficiency. These ITS (intelligent traffic systems) have been tested and implemented in several cities in the U.S. One of the best examples is in Pittsburgh where over 200 smart signals were added resulting in a 26% decrease in traffic flow time, a 21% decrease in exhaust emissions, and a 41% decrease in wait times at intersections.
We are in the process of implementing our ITS by adding 12 smart traffic signals that identifies traffic, then uses a sophisticated algorithm to calculate and set a timing pattern. This pattern is also communicated to the other traffic signals so they can in turn adjust their timing to optimize flow. This is truly technology at its best, and it’s forward thinking with the potential to communicate to smart vehicles and electronic devices that are projected for the future.
We are currently fine tuning our new smart traffic lights and expect them to be operational and adapting / learning before the end of this year. There will still be a high volume of traffic on Montgomery Road, but we heard you and we are working to improve with some of the best technology and expertise available.
In the meantime, always remember to buckle-up and drive safely.