City of Tyler retimes 19 traffic signals as part of master plan study

TYLER, Texas (KLTV) - With a traffic signal system almost 30 years old, the City of Tyler is making improvements for better traffic flow.

The city has retimed 19 traffic signals as a part of their intelligent transportation master plan study. Back in 2019 and 2021, retimings were done in other parts of Tyler, but this recent improvement focused on areas that have seen less reliable travel times. The retimed intersections include South Broadway Avenue and Troup Highway, East Front Street and South Fannin Avenue, and many more. Public information Officer LouAnn Campbell says there is a need as Tyler continues to expand.

“Traffic patterns do change with the time of the year. They change with the amount of people that are in the city. And they also change you know during the times of day. So that’s what our traffic engineers looked at last week,” Campbell said.

And for the first time, traffic engineers were able to do the work remotely, which saves lots of time. Without their new equipment, Campbell says this would have originally taken weeks to do.

“In the past two years, we’ve installed a lot of equipment and gotten up to speed with the things we have because some of the equipment we have on the field is obsolete. It’s past its lifespan, we can’t get parts for it anymore, so we are now getting to the point where we’ve automated this,” she said.

The city is working with the contractor Kimberly Horn on this plan. It will take a few months to gather data on how the retiming sequences did for traffic flow. And Horn will have a report on those results by the end of the year.

“These sequences that were programmed in, we hope that they are getting people through Broadway, through Front Street in a more expedient way so they’re not having to stop as much and traffic can flow just a little bit better,” Campbell said.

Intersection to be retimed include

•South Broadway Avenue and Troup Highway

•South Broadway Avenue and Eighth Street

•South Broadway Avenue and Fifth Street

•South Broadway Avenue and Fourth Street

•South Broadway Avenue and Dobbs Street

•South Broadway Avenue and Houston Street

•South Broadway Avenue and Front Street

•East Front Street and South Fannin Avenue

•East Houston Street and South Fannin Avenue

•West Front Street and South Bonner Avenue

•West Front Street and South Vine Avenue

•West Front Street and South Palace Avenue

•West Front Street and South Glenwood Boulevard

•West Fourth Street and South Chilton Avenue

•West Fourth Street and South College Avenue

•West Fourth Street and South Donnybrook Avenue

•West Fifth Street and South Chilton Avenue

•West Fifth Street and South College Avenue

•West Fifth Street and South Donnybrook Avenue

The City will be gathering data on the retiming project for several months and release a report on the findings at the end of the year.

As part of the Year 3 projects in FY 22-23, the City is anticipates replacing 14 of the 149 existing traffic signal cabinets which will also include battery backups. The upgrades will replace equipment that is past its life span and will allow staff to better maintain the traffic signal system and keep traffic signals operational during a power outage.

“The Year 2 projects have made a huge difference in our staff’s ability to maintain our traffic signal system and respond to issues when they occur,” said Traffic Engineer Cameron Williams. “As we start moving into the next phase of implementing new traffic signal cabinets and battery backups we take another leap forward in providing a more reliable and safer traffic signal system for the citizens of Tyler.”

The replacement of the traffic signal cabinets and the battery backups is a proposed project on the Fiscal Year 2022-2023 Annual Work Plan of the Half Cent Sales Tax

Program.

The Half Cent Sales Tax board opened their annual workplan for public comments on Aug. 9. Residents can have until Oct. 17 to provide comments.

The proposed Fiscal Year 2022-2023 Annual Work Plan is available on our website or can be picked up during normal business hours in the City of Tyler Engineering Department located at 511 W. Locust St., Tyler, TX 75710. Residents can provide comments on any or all the projects by calling (903) 531-1126, through our website, or by mail to City of Tyler, Half Cent Sales Tax Manager, 511 W. Locust St., Tyler, TX 75710.

Opportunities for public input on the proposed Fiscal Year 2022-23 budget are available by attending one of two Council meetings at Tyler City Hall, 212 N. Bonner Ave. on the following dates:

•Wednesday, Aug. 24 at 9 a.m.

•Wednesday, Sept. 14 at 9 a.m.

Final adoption of the budget is scheduled for 9 a.m. at the Sept. 14 meeting at Tyler City Hall.

To view the entire budget presentation, proposed tax rate and property tax calculator, visit [www.CityofTyler.org]www.CityofTyler.org

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