City of Tyler, TxDOT voted to improve traffic safety with projects

TYLER, Texas (KLTV) - The Tyler City Council voted Wednesday to enter into an advanced funding agreement with the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) for two Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP) Projects. The first project is an LED curve warning system and profile pavement markings, which will be installed through the reverse curve on West Grande Boulevard.

The LED curve warning system and profile pavement markings were safety improvements recommended in the West Grande Boulevard Reverse Curve study.

The total construction cost of the project is currently estimated at $134,704.79. The Federal Highway Safety Improvement Program will fund 90 percent of the cost, and the City will cover the remaining 10 percent through the Half-Cent Sales Tax Program.

The project is scheduled to be sent out for bids in August 2023.

Additionally, the second project will upgrade 106 of the 149 signalized intersections in Tyler located on U.S. Highways, Texas Highways, and farm and ranch roads that go through the City. The City maintains the 106 on-system intersections per agreements with TxDOT.

The upgrades include replacing current lights with about 3,700 LED signal indications and installing retroreflective backplates on the signals. The upgrades are a proven safety measure that reduces crashes and collisions by about 15 percent.

“Traffic signal backplates are thin plates that surround the traffic signal heads. They improve the visibility of the signal with a contrasted background,” said Traffic Engineer Cameron Williams. “Adding the retroreflective border of the backplates enhances the visibility of the traffic signal even more. The yellow retroreflective strip can alert drivers to the intersection locations during power outages when the signals are dark, which is when the non-reflective signal heads and backplates are not visible.”

The total construction cost for the project is estimated at $1,479,460.06.

The city’s traffic engineer, Cameron Williams, says that the upgrades are a proven safety measure that reduces crashes and collisions by about 15 percent.

“So that was a recommendation that came out of our Grande reversed curve safety study to improve that reverse curve to reduce accidents and give more awareness to drivers of those curves,” said Williams.

If you pass the reverse curve on West Grande Blvd, you can see crosses and flowers in memory of people who died there.

“It’s been an area that the city has had a concern for for a while and as part of that study we looked at ten years of crash history and I believe we found about 55 to 56 accidents that had occurred that were reported in that stretch of the roadway,” said Williams.

Williams says another component of the first project is to apply a high friction surface treatment to improve friction between tires and the pavement on the ‘S’ curve.

The Federal Highway Safety Improvement Program will fund 90 percent of the cost, with TxDOT funding the remaining 10 percent.

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