Many Montgomery County motorists may not realize the role the Northstar Traffic Operations Center—which optimizes traffic flow in and out of the county—plays in their daily commutes.
Operated and funded by Montgomery County Precinct 3, the NTOC opened in Conroe in 2007 as the central facility for Precinct 3’s traffic signal system. Similar to the Houston TranStar system the center is made up of field operations technicians and traffic operations staff whose primary functions are to monitor traffic on Precinct 3 roadways, NTOC Manager Charles Cobb said.
“Traffic management is a key component to mobility,” Cobb said. “Staff constantly monitor roadways, traffic signals and relays pertinent information to the public to help with the daily commutes via social media. Northstar has drastically cut down on response time for technicians, which enhances mobility for residents.”
Over the past decade, the center has grown to become one of the largest traffic-management facilities in the region, aside from that of the city of Houston, Harris County and the Texas Department of Transportation, with 90 traffic signals, 200 traffic cameras and more than 1,500 network devices used to monitor traffic countywide, Cobb said.
Staff can make real-time adjustments remotely when certain areas of the county are experiencing congestion due to traffic accidents or other unforeseen incidents.
“[We have plans to] expand the new real-time adaptive traffic control system,” Cobb said. “The system was originally installed in and around the [The Woodlands] Town Center Due to positive feedback and recent success, we feel other areas [of the county] could benefit from this type of control.”
Cobb said the center will launch new interactive maps on its website this spring with road closure information, traffic incidents and travel times for county roadways.
In addition to enhancements to the traffic signal network, Cobb said NTOC is also planning to install new traffic signals at the intersections of Richards and Hanna roads, Birnham Woods Drive and Waterbend Cove, and other locations associated with the widening of Rayford Road.
“South Montgomery County is growing at a rapid pace, so developing innovative plans to reduce gridlock is a constant concern,” said James Noack, Montgomery County Precinct 3 Commissioner. “Through the South County Mobility Study and the numerous cutting-edge advancements implemented by Northstar [and] our traffic operations team, we have been able to enhance mobility for all who travel through south Montgomery County.”
501 N. Thompson St., Conroe 936-538-3785 www.mctraffic.org
