Atlantic City’s traffic lights that have frustrated drivers should soon have the long-promised fix courtesy of a $1.4 million grant.
The South Jersey Transportation Planning Organization money will fund signal improvements on Pacific Avenue from Hartford to Massachusetts avenues, Mayor Marty Small announced Tuesday.
The city also has funds to synchronize the signal on Atlantic Avenue from Maine to Albany avenues.
The project includes installing advanced traffic signal management at all intersections that can detect when vehicles are stacked at the light, and allow them to be timed to improve traffic flow.
It will monitor traffic in real time and adjust signals according to needs.
“This project has been talked about for decades, and now we have the funding to synchronize the signals on both Pacific and Atlantic avenues,” Small said. “This will greatly improve traffic flow in Atlantic City.”
Cabinetry for the controlling mechanisms and battery back-ups will be elevated in flood-prone areas.
The Pacific Avenue project aims to optimize signals by upgrading equipment and developing traffic signal timing plans that provide two-way progression along the street.
The aim is to minimal delays, reduce emissions and improve safety.
An engineering contract for the Atlantic Avenue work is set to be acted on at the Dec. 16 City Council meeting.
The idea dates to at least 2009, when the SJTA retained Urban Engineers to develop a plan for traffic signal upgrades along Pacific and Atlantic avenues, Small explained.
Conduit and junction boxes were installed along Pacific Avenue as part of the 2015 repaving.
To implement and monitor the timing and traffic operations, a closed loop fiber optic communication system would be installed along Pacific Avenue.
The work required includes installation of underground conduit for the length of Pacific Avenue from Hartford Avenue to Christopher Columbus Boulevard/Missouri Avenue and from Indiana to Massachusetts avenues.
The conduit will tie into the existing system installed from Christopher Columbus to Indiana Avenue.
“By installing fiber on Pacific and Atlantic avenues, the infrastructure will be in place to install security cameras and dynamic message signs,” Small said.
The fiber-optic service will connect to the Public Safety Building at Atlantic and Iowa avenues.
Pacific Avenue is ranked No. 6 in the South Jersey Network Screening List, with 97 crashes between 2014 and 2015.
The signal synchronization and associated improvements will help to make this corridor safer and more efficient while reducing harmful emissions.
Work will begin in 2021 on Atlantic Avenue, the No. 1 ranked safety issue in the network screening list, with 150 crashes from 2014 to 2016.
