Council approves up to $55,000 work order for Andover Road traffic engineering design

Rick, a city public works official, described a work order covering design and traffic engineering for the Douglas and Andover Road traffic signal and related traffic-optimization work that will coordinate with an upcoming Founders Way signal installation.

Rick said poles and signal hardware at the Douglas & Andover Road intersection are past their life cycle and need complete replacement. The design work will also allow the city to phase nearby signals and implement traffic-optimization strategies intended to improve peak-period flows near schools and developing areas. Rick said the main portion of the work order is the signal redesign, with subsequent work focused on traffic optimization once equipment inventories and upgrades are in place.

Rick said the work would be done by the city's traffic engineer, identified in the discussion as Transystems (the transcript includes an inconsistent company name at the motion; staff identified Transystems as the engineering firm). He said the design will be funded from the city's street rehabilitation budget and that a technology grant awarded to the city could reduce some costs associated with signal technology, though the paperwork for that grant was not yet final.

A councilmember asked whether the redesigned signal would include protected turn signals on all four approaches; Rick said the design does not include widening the road and would not add protected turn lanes now but that poles will be set back and configured so turn signals could be added if the road is widened later. Councilmembers discussed options such as delayed-turn signal phasing and lane-merging treatments as potential design considerations during the design phase.

A motion to approve the work order for Transystems (recorded in the meeting as "Transitions Corporation") for Andover Road traffic engineering design services in an amount not to exceed $55,000 passed 6-0.