Council members and city staff discussed traffic flow and ongoing transportation projects after the 2025 resident survey identified traffic as a top priority.

Why it matters: Traffic flow was the highest-priority issue residents said the city should emphasize over the next two years in the ETC Institute survey presented at the council meeting. Council members asked staff how the city is managing congestion and what projects or staffing changes are underway.

City staff described recent and planned actions and constraints. An acting city engineer identified by staff as the traffic engineer said the city has “done a lot in recent years as far as our traffic signal technologies go” and that Auburn’s signals and remote timing controls are well regarded. The acting city engineer said the city had added a second full-time traffic engineer to the team and has implemented corridor signal performance measures and coordinated timing patterns that allow staff to adjust signal timing remotely.

Staff noted that roadway projects take a long time from conception to construction and often rely on right-of-way acquisition, private-property negotiations and coordination with external agencies such as the Alabama Department of Transportation. Staff specifically mentioned Donahue Road improvements and widening work under design, North Dean Road and East University Drive projects, intersection work at Dean Road and Opelika Road, and a recently approved project referred to as Mill Creek. The acting city engineer said: “Ultimately there does come a time when those lanes can only handle so many vehicles, and then we have to start looking at alternate routes or widening those.”

Council and staff discussed scheduling more detailed briefings: staff said the council already has four budget workshops scheduled for the coming months and that a traffic-specific work session could be scheduled—possibly as a fifth workshop—to review project priorities, timing and funding before the council finalizes budget decisions.

Staff emphasized that some improvements must wait for available right-of-way or developer contributions, and that intersections under state control follow different warrant standards for signals and roundabouts. City staff suggested they will present a prioritized list of candidate transportation projects during the budget process and asked council members to indicate their preferences.

The discussion closed with staff thanking council members and noting that traffic will receive heightened attention during upcoming budget deliberations.