“We're all a little surprised at how often the frequency of issues arose and how many people reached out,” City Engineer Kevin Sawtelle said. “The way they're set up right now, you effectively have to do a field visit to verify what is occurring at any given traffic signal.”
To streamline the process of troubleshooting traffic signals, Pape-Dawson Engineers recommended the city upgrade about half of its control cabinets as they are outdated, Sawtelle said. Additional software will be installed to be able to run operations remotely and avoid the need for in-person inspections when issues arise.
The first tasks for Pape-Dawson Engineers will be to take inventory of each of the 13 intersections and its controller cabinet as well as conducting field observations during peak travel times in the mornings and evenings to assess traffic and safety issues.
Ultimately, the engineers will provide traffic support services for the 13 intersections on an as-needed basis for the city in the event of improper light cycling and timing, camera obstructions, and other issues with the hope that it can be resolved remotely.
“We have enough traffic problems,” Mayor Kara King said. “Anything that we can do to keep things flowing as efficiently as possible is a good thing.”
The 13 intersections are listed below:
