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Lexington reports early gains after Park Road–West Main signal reconfiguration
Summary
Town transportation staff and Mayor Pro Tem Todd Carnes told the council that changing the Park Road/West Main signal from split to concurrent operation reduced the number of AM-peak queue failures and returned roughly 12 seconds per cycle to through traffic in initial video comparisons.
Town transportation staff told the Lexington council on Aug. 3 that an operational change to the traffic signal at Park Road and West Main produced measurable, early improvements in morning traffic flow. Mayor Pro Tem Todd Carnes introduced the update and the town's transportation engineer, Randy, explained the decision to move the signal from a split phase to concurrent operations.
Randy said the change was implemented the previous Sunday and was intended to better use an underutilized inner left-turn lane while freeing more green time for through movements. "we implemented that last Sunday night," he said in explaining the timing. Reviewing video from July 23 (before the change) and July 30 (after the change), staff reported that the AM-peak queue failed to clear eight times under the old configuration and two times after the change, an early indicator of improved throughput.
Randy quantified the benefit as a time improvement for the mainline movement. "It's a 12 2nd gain in time," he said, adding that the intersection operates with adaptive signal technology and that the town expects further smoothing as school traffic patterns stabilize. Council members noted that the result is counterintuitive but consistent with the traffic data and the town’s LTIP (Local Transportation Improvement Plan) analyses.
Carnes and other council members thanked staff and highlighted other recent town work on signals and pavement rehabilitation, emphasizing that more monitoring is planned. Council members asked staff to continue year-over-year comparisons and to watch initial school-start days for transient effects. The town encouraged residents to report signal or roadway problems through its usual channels.
The council did not take any formal vote on the signal change during the meeting; staff described the reconfiguration as an operational adjustment coordinated with SCDOT and the town's transportation program.
