City to install adaptive traffic signal technology on two corridors after $1.159M FDOT grant

St. Petersburg City Council unanimously approved staff requests to purchase integrated roadside units (RSUs) and increase a blanket purchase allocation to buy traffic signal controllers and cabinets under an FDOT Technology Application Partnership (TAPS) grant worth $1,159,000. The funding requires expenditure by the end of the year; the council approved the staff recommendation (agenda item F1A) by roll call.

Cheryl Stacks, transportation and parking management, presented the project scope: 15 signalized intersections on state roads in West St. Petersburg — 60th Street from Pasadena Avenue to 30th Avenue North and Tyrone Boulevard from 5th Avenue North to Park Street. The grant award supports replacement of controllers and cabinets (Econolite equipment under the city's existing blanket purchase), installation of RSUs with integrated video detection, communications upgrades including fiber to the cabinets, and a new video wall at the traffic management center to improve citywide monitoring.

Staff emphasized three project benefits: (1) adaptive traffic signal control to make green times responsive to actual conditions; (2) roadside units that enable future connected‑vehicle features and currently provide high‑resolution video detection and AI object detection for vehicles and pedestrians; and (3) resiliency elements — risers to elevate cabinets 18 inches to reduce flood risk. Stacks said the recommended RSU product is the only available unit on the market with integrated video detection, reducing the number of devices to install and maintain at each intersection.

Council members asked technical and operational questions. Councilmember Richie Floyd asked how pedestrian detection interacts with controllers; staff explained the video detection will send calls to controllers and can supplement push buttons. Members asked about failure modes; staff said the system will default to standard controller operation and FDOT pays the city to maintain signals on the state system under an existing agreement. Councilmember Mike Harding asked about potential preemption and priority for EMS and fire apparatus; staff said a working group with Pinellas County and Fire Rescue is exploring preemption and priority, and that the RSUs will enable preemption/priority features as the project develops.

Project costs were described in relative terms: controllers and cabinets comprise about 27% of the project budget and RSUs about one‑third; fiber, contingency, maintenance of traffic and the video wall make up the remainder. Staff said some activities are provided in‑kind and that long‑lead items (RSUs and cabinets) are the immediate procurement priority. The administration requested authority to sole‑source the RSUs through the identified vendor and to increase the existing BPA allocation for Econolite cabinets to meet the grant schedule.

Why it matters: the upgrades allow adaptive control and create the physical infrastructure for connected vehicle technology and emergency vehicle priority; they also improve operational monitoring and flood resilience for signal cabinets on state roads. Council unanimously approved the procurement authorization and blanket purchase increase and staff will return to council with follow‑on items such as software procurement and video wall integration.

Ending: Staff said they will order RSUs and cabinets to meet the grant deadlines, complete communications upgrades, and return with software and video wall items when procurement details are available.