High Tech Stop Lights to Make Commutes Safer
By: Andy Schroeder
Updated: October 11, 2007
The Evansville Board of Public Works approved a $52,000 traffic engineering study Thursday to examine how new stop light technology might make life easier for city commuters.
All of the citys traffic lights are controlled through a centralized computer system, but most of the technology is 25 years old or older. The city plans to upgrade controls in the downtown area next spring, and is looking at solutions for the entire city and perhaps the county.
The upgrade uses a technology similar to wireless internet, or Wi-Fi. It would allow traffic engineers to communicate directly with specific intersections and reliably shift timing of lights. The new technology would make it much easier to change traffic flow depending on how busy a specific street, corridor or intersection is.
