Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Transportation Signals topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Town updates adaptive traffic-signal system; staff recommends fiber, backups and continued tuning
Summary
Town staff reported the adaptive traffic-signal system (live since Nov. 2023) is reducing delays, lowering service calls and learning through firmware and detection tuning. Staff recommended leasing dark fiber (~$30,000/yr) for redundancy, adding battery backups to oldest cabinets and continuing outreach for event and school-bus issues.
Sean, a town transportation staff member, briefed the council on the town’s adaptive traffic-signal system and its performance since going live in November 2023. He said the system adjusts signal timing in near-real time and is designed to “maintain a consistent level of service through the corridor during peak hours and then again off peak.”
The town has begun measuring before-and-after travel times for eastbound lanes, and Sean said cumulative per-vehicle time savings (examples cited as reductions of 36 seconds on a peak run) add up across daily traffic volumes to deliver meaningful benefits. He told the council the system also includes bicycle and pedestrian detections so crosswalks are considered in the timing algorithm.
Nut graf: The update focused on reliability improvements, redundancy and staffing needs as the town moves from a staff-intensive signal program to a technology-driven system. Staff recommended steps to harden communications, add battery backups and keep tuning detection software rather than a large-scale redesign today.
Staff said a vendor and installer from the signal manufacturer spent several weeks in July and August reviewing hardware, cabinet grounding and detection; following firmware updates and grounding improvements the town has seen fewer outages. Sean cited user reports to the town’s MyHHI ClickFix system as one measure of system performance: “in July, we had 10 My HHI ClickFix apps, 13 in August, and in September, we only saw 3,” he said, noting the trend as an indicator of fewer resident-reported problems.
Regarding communications redundancy, Tommy Sundae, the town’s director of technology, explained the town could lease dark fiber point-to-point links rather than relying solely on radio pods. He said dark fiber provides a dedicated connection between points and that the town would keep the existing point-to-point radios as failover. Tommy described the dark-fiber lease as implementable in about six months and noted a discounted provider estimate of roughly $30,000 per year.
Council members flagged three follow-ups: confirming final pricing and contract mechanics for any fiber lease, identifying funding sources (staff raised potential grant options and county contributions), and defining staffing backstops for after-hours troubleshooting. Sean recommended exploring battery backup units for the five oldest signal cabinets and returning to council with a staffing and funding plan.
The council also discussed the town’s process for addressing citizen reports and special events. Sean noted the MyHHI app uses geocoding and a hotline to route service requests to the appropriate project manager. He said the town worked with the school district to adjust radar detection at Wilburn Road after receiving a report that buses weren’t routinely receiving sufficient green time.
The workshop produced no formal votes on these recommendations; staff will return with more detailed cost, funding and staffing proposals.
