MOUNT VERNON — A traffic signal project underway in the city will streamline the time drivers have to wait at a light before accessing Coshocton Avenue.
The city is upgrading the seven intersections on Coshocton Avenue between Vernedale and Upper Gilchrist Road. Three are on tap for this year: Vernonview, Lowe’s, and Woodlake Trail.
The upgrades replace outdated equipment, offer remote equipment access and enhance pedestrian safety along the city’s busiest corridor.
The contractor upgraded Woodlake Trail and Lowe’s on Wednesday and Thursday. Vernonview is scheduled for Friday.
A police officer will direct traffic while the contractor performs the work.
“The intersections are getting new cabinets and new updated controllers. This will help us with coordination out there,” Public Utilities Director Tom Hinkle said.
“In other words, the intersections will be able to communicate with each other better.”
Traffic Lights 101
To understand how a traffic signal works, imagine a clock inside the control cabinet with the second hand at 12:00.
Using hypothetical numbers, drivers on a side street can enter Coshocton Avenue between 12:00 and 12:15.
If a driver approaches the intersection at 12:16, radar alerts the controller that a car is waiting. However, the light won’t change to green until the second hand reaches 12:00, and the driver has to wait 44 seconds.
If a driver approaches the intersection at 12:45, the driver only has to wait 15 seconds for the light to turn green.
If radar does not detect a car when the second hand goes through a full cycle and reaches 12 again, the light will not change.
The current sensors that detect a car waiting on a side street are underground and at the end of their life. Hinkle said they were installed in the early 1990s.
The old system frequently did not detect vehicles waiting on a side street. It would also, as Hinkle put it, “drop the call.” This meant drivers would sometimes sit through two traffic light cycles before getting a green light to enter Coshocton Avenue.
“Radar will be used now to pick up the vehicles at each one of the approaches,” Hinkle said. “I hope this will improve the faults that occur when vehicles are not detected.”
Coshocton Avenue has priority for traffic flow. The lights will stay green until radar detects a car on an approach.
While the new system improves detection, it will not change the timing pattern of the signal itself.
Additional improvements
The upgrades include Audible Pedestrian Signals for the visually impaired.
“So they’ll actually have the locate tones and the directions of what street you’re crossing and what direction you’re crossing,” Hinkle said.
The contractor will also install radio equipment that features remote capabilities.
“We’ll be able to view, make changes, reprogram, and be alerted when the intersection’s malfunctioning — whether it went into flash or lost power — and we’ll know right away from the office,” Hinkle said.
“We can also remotely access [the controllers] if we’re in a vehicle, so it’s an improvement.
“I hope one day we’ll have every intersection included into this to where you can interact with any of them through mobile or being at one office,” Hinkle added.
