108 Sarasota intersections now have "timed" lights

[News Flash]

108 Sarasota intersections now have "timed" lights

SARASOTA — Between the hours of 4:30 and 6 p.m., you won’t notice a difference, said traffic engineer David Hegel. “Everybody runs for the car at 5 p.m.”

But during the off-peak hours, Sarasota drivers will notice a change. They’ll be able to sail up and down Tamiami Trail with few interruptions from changing street lights.

For the past three months, traffic engineers have been re-timing the light signals at 108 intersections in metropolitan Sarasota.

Says lead engineer Alex Davis-Shaw: “Once they get on a corridor, they won’t stop. If you’re outrunning the platoon, you will stop, but if you go at a normal speed, you won’t stop as much.”

Engineers so far have retimed signals at 61 intersections along U.S. 41, U.S. 301 and Fruitville Road. They have been test driving those intersections to make sure no further re-timing modifications need to be made.

“At lesser volume times, we’ve been able to drive from University Parkway to Stickney Point with one or two stops,” Hegel says.

Final data analysis isn’t complete, but Hegel expects about a 17% reduction in driving time for that trip.

Source

FINALLY! If I had to deal with traffic lights that just changed for no reason AGAIN during the early morning hours on the way home, I was going to take hostages.... :lol:

THATS WHAT THE LIGHT BAR IS FOR :wink: