Next Phase of Traffic Signal Retiming Project Begins Monday
~City
nearing 400 retimed signalized intersections~
RICHMOND, Va
– The city continues to ramp up its retiming of traffic
signals. Work begins Monday, February 4
to retime 147 more. These improvements will increase pedestrian
safety on our major arterials citywide at more than 390 signalized
intersections. The work during this phase includes intersections west of
Belvidere (VCU, Fan, Museum District and West End).
The project is part of an initiative that began one year ago and
included the retiming of 71 intersections in the Southside, 17 in the
Northside, and 179 in the Downtown Area.
It is part of a comprehensive plan to deploy low
cost, systemic pedestrian safety improvements at signalized intersections
through 2020. These improvements include: high visibility crosswalks,
accessible ramps, pedestrian countdown signals and improved signal timings.
The project aligns with the city’s participation in the Vision
Zero Action Plan, which aims to reduce crashes resulting in serious injuries
and death for all transportation users through updated traffic signal timings.
Additional benefits of new timing plans include improving pedestrian safety and
multi-modal mobility, decreased wear on motor vehicles, as well as improved gas
mileage by reducing the number of stops and starts. Environmental benefits
include the reduction of vehicle emissions such as carbon monoxide, nitrous
oxides and volatile organic compounds.
Richmond is working on the project in cooperation with the
Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT), the Richmond Regional Planning
Organization (RRTPO) and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA).
The city is leveraging state and federal funding sources to
implement this important timing project as part of an overall $3.5 million
initiative to improve pedestrian safety through funding from the FHWA and
VDOT's Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP), and $800,000 funded
throughout the Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement (CMAQ) Program
from RRTPO.
Due to the changes in some traffic signal operations, all
transportation users are encouraged to be alert as they become accustomed to
the new traffic patterns. Each corridor
takes several weeks to fine tune before the pattern is finalized.
More information on Richmond’s Vision Zero program can be found
at: http://www.richmondgov.com/PublicWorks/VisionZero.aspx
If you have questions or concerns, please e-mail to Ask Public
Works (http://www.richmondgov.com/PublicWorks/index.aspx),
or call the City’s Customer Care Center 3-1-1.
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events visit us on Twitter @DPW_RichmondVA
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