SDOT touts improved drive times after re-timing traffic signals downtown
May 24, 2016, 4:45 PM | Updated: 5:36 pm
Seattle has retimed its downtown traffic lights with the aim of moving traffic along quicker. (Clay Junnel, Flickr)
(Clay Junnel, Flickr)
The Seattle Department of Transportation has re-timed its traffic signals downtown and is now boasting of the success.
Related: What is the deal with these new traffic signals showing up around Puget Sound?
A total of 260 traffic signals were reprogrammed with updated timing in January 2016. SDOT also created different zones to manage the signals differently than before. Pedestrian crossing times were changed to give people more time to cross the street. The project came with a $1.35 million price tag, paid for through the Real Estate Excise Tax.
Overall travel times through Seattle’s downtown core have been reduced by 7-13 percent and delays have been reduced by 15-37 percent, according to an SDOT snapshot of weekday travel times from March 2015 to March 2016. SDOT touts the time saved adds up to a benefit of 6-9 percent in fuel savings.
For example, if you are a driver traveling northbound on Fourth Avenue between Jackson Street and Virginia Street during the morning commute (peak times), your drive time improved by 25 seconds. If you’re driving that same stretch during the afternoon commute (peak times) — drive time improved by 3:09 minutes. Overall, that road has improved by about 19 percent, or 1:25 minutes.
Or take the Denny Way corridor — eastbound from Western Avenue to Dexter Avenue. The morning drive is now about 20 seconds faster, while the afternoon drive is 1:41 minutes faster. Travel times improved by 33 seconds overall on the corridor.
Related: SDOT will briefly pretend it cares about drivers, says Jason Rantz
SDOT has said it is investing in a new $1 million software upgrade to its signals along the Mercer Corridor. The traffic signals will be outfitted with “adaptive signal control.” SDOT says the new controls allow the “signal system to be more responsive to real-time traffic conditions.”
SDOT expects adaptive signal control will be most useful during the times just before or after peak commute times — or the shoulders.
