‘Smart’ traffic signals may ease traffic backups
Oct. 7, 2012, 12:11 p.m. EDT
The Record (Woodland Park, N.J.)
NORTH ARLINGTON, N.J. (AP) — Within a two-mile radius of where Schuyler Avenue and Belleville Turnpike intersect in North Arlington, drivers confront day-to-day traffic backups at stop lights and road-construction projects on roads built before World War II.
With bends and single-lane stretches, they are among the region’s busiest roadways, passing industrial zones, strip malls and apartments, leaving little room for widening or straightening to ease congestion.
To improve flow, Meadowlands region officials are turning to a new sort of traffic signal that can sense traffic jams, communicate with other “smart” traffic lights and automatically clear up congestion.
The project — called Meadowlands Adaptive Signal System for Traffic Reduction — an innovative network that includes cameras, computerized radios and sensors that will adjust the timing of traffic signals — began construction last year in Secaucus.
Once the system is up and running, it should cut travel time on historically congested roads and save on fuel consumption.
https://www.nj.com/newsflash/index.ssf/story/smart-traffic-signals-may-ease-traffic-backups/1151a27a8ea74621acf38e7f41600664
