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Town standardizes signal timing to curb red‑light running, traffic engineer says
Summary
Prescott Valley traffic engineer Parker Murphy described work with police to review yellow and all‑red clearance intervals, standardizing the yellow to 3.5 seconds and auditing timing to reduce inconsistent intervals that may encourage red‑light running.
Prescott Valley’s traffic engineer told listeners on PV in Focus that staff reviewed signal timing with police after concerns about red‑light running and standardized the yellow interval to improve consistency and safety.
"When I came on as the traffic engineer, that was a big conversation I had with PD," Parker Murphy said, recounting the joint review. He said staff checked yellow and all‑red clearance intervals and standardized the yellow at 3.5 seconds, noting typical engineering practice that yellow can be computed from the posted speed limit divided by 10 but that consistency across corridors matters for driver expectation.
Murphy said the red‑clearance interval is a key safety element and that consistent timing helps law enforcement and drivers by removing variation that can encourage risky behavior. "If you go from one signal to another signal and it's 5 seconds here, 3 seconds here, 2 seconds there, that perception is just like, 'Oh, I know it's 5 seconds there. I can run this one,'" he said, explaining why uniform intervals can reduce red‑light attempts.
Town staff did not announce enforcement changes or new camera programs on the podcast; instead they emphasized timing calibration and coordination with the police department as the primary response. The town said timing adjustments have been made where appropriate and that staff will continue to monitor problem locations and work with law enforcement when needed.
