Traffic signals to get updates
Newport begins project to modify 112 lights in effort to improve surveillance, traffic. Work is expected to be done at end of year.
By Daniel Tedford, Daily Pilot
NThe days of being stuck in traffic near Fashion Island, on MacArthur Boulevard and some parts of East Coast Highway may be over — or at least less frustrating.
Newport Beach embarked on a new era in signal management recently, a project that will eventually update 112 lights at intersections throughout the city to be more modern, accessible and more readily monitored, officials said.
The first phase of the project, which has just begun, will update 22 intersections with new traffic signal controller equipment, fiber cabling, special cameras to monitor traffic and direct feeds to a traffic management center.
The updates will better enable city officials to monitor traffic flow, adapt traffic signals for special events that happen in the city and decrease the amount of maintenance repairs for signals, city Traffic Engineer Tony Brine said.
Construction is expected to be completed by the end of the year.
The project is part of a multiphase Traffic Signal Modernization Program, which gives monitors more power to affect traffic with a watchful eye.
“The cameras will give our technology people more information to manage traffic in real time,” said Councilwoman Leslie Daigle. “With fiber-optics in place, traffic information will be moving at the speed of light.”
Daigle stressed the importance of the “surveillance” aspect of the project.
With the cameras and communication system, monitors will be able to adapt signals to what they need when they need it.
The initial phase of the project costs about $1 million, but the city got some help from the Orange County Transportation Authority, which gave about $500,000 to support the project, Brine said.
Signals near Jamboree Boulevard and on MacArthur Boulevard were part of the first phase because of the high traffic flow there, Daigle said. Other areas of the city will be affected in later projects, with price tags similar to this initial project.
Daigle said that due to the General Plan Update, community traffic is decreasing, but the new system will help tackle the amount of traffic brought in from visitors.
Phase two, which will update 14 intersections, and phase three, with 20 intersections, are next on tap and are being designed together, Brine said.
DANIEL TEDFORD may be reached at (714) 966-4632 or at daniel.tedford@latimes.com.
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