A computerized system will utilize sensors in the pavement and overhead cameras to monitor traffic and adjust the timing of signals.
By BRIDGET HALL GRUMET
Published January 18, 2004
NEW PORT RICHEY - Those long waits in U.S. 19 traffic are about to get a little shorter.
The state Department of Transportation is installing a more sophisticated traffic signal timing system, including new sensors in the pavement and video cameras at certain U.S. 19 intersections, to keep cars moving along the crowded corridor in Pasco County.
The signals currently are programmed to handle the different amounts of traffic expected at different times of day. But the new system will respond to actual traffic conditions in real time, providing shorter green lights at slightly used sidestreets and longer green lights at backlogged U.S. 19 intersections.
Officials say that should keep traffic flowing better through unexpected conditions, such as a car accident blocking part of the road.
"It will figure out exactly what's going on and pick the best program for those conditions," said Doug Uden, director of the county's Metropolitan Planning Organization, the local transportation board.
"It won't fix (U.S. 19 congestion) completely," Uden added, "but we're excited it should at least help a lot."
The new system is coming in phases. The sensors and cameras are in place, but not yet activated, from the Pasco-Pinellas county line to Main Street.
Drivers should start seeing a difference along that stretch of U.S. 19 in a couple of months, once the equipment is linked to a computer program and everything is running smoothly, said Bijan Behzadi, a traffic design engineer with the state Department of Transportation.
More sensors and cameras will be installed from Main Street to the Pasco-Hernando county line over the next two years, he said. The County Commission last week approved an $8.5-million loan to the state to start those phases now.
The sensors buried in the pavement at each intersection will detect which lanes are filled with cars and which lanes have little traffic, Behzadi said.
"They constantly take the pulse of traffic and send that information to the local controller and the central controller," Behzadi said, referring to the computer system that will adjust the traffic signal timing. "All of these things happen within thousandths of a second to respond to the demand."
The video cameras, which can zoom in and pan around, will become the county traffic managers' eyes on U.S. 19. From a control room at the West Pasco Government Center, county officials can see the exact location and severity of an accident on U.S. 19, Behzadi said.
"They can verify the type of accident so the proper agency can be dispatched for faster response," he said.
The system also will include two electronic signs on U.S. 19, one south of Ridge Road and one north, that could tell drivers to take another route if an upcoming stretch of U.S. 19 is too congested.
The project is the latest in a series of improvements to U.S. 19, where one out of every five accidents and one out of every three crash-related fatalities occurs in Pasco County.
Last month, the county posted bright blue signs every quarter-mile along U.S. 19, providing block numbers to help drivers find their destinations.
Local officials also agreed to add a fourth continuous turn lane in each direction of U.S. 19, if they can get state and federal officials to pay for the $15-million project. County Commissioner Ann Hildebrand has been lobbying state legislators for the money.
And county officials are considering an ordinance to require developers along U.S. 19 to help improve the highway - either by making their own upgrades or contributing to a fund to fix U.S. 19's trouble spots.
"I think U.S. 19 has gotten a lot of attention from us because it's a high-profile road," Hildebrand said. "It's our main street in west Pasco County."
- Bridget Hall Grumet covers Pasco County government. She can be reached in west Pasco at 869-6244, or toll-free at 1-800-333-7505, ext. 6244. Her e-mail address is hall@sptimes.com
