Freedom Blvd. Adaptive Traffic Signal Project

Watsonville City Council approved at its May 10th, 2016 meeting, the Agreement with Western Pacific signal, LLC for the design, procurement and installation of an Adaptive Traffic Control System for the Freedom Boulevard corridor.

Freedom Boulevard is one of the City’s highest used corridors serving approximately 25,000 vehicles on a daily basis. This project will include the installation of an Adaptive Traffic Control System along Freedom Boulevard to improve traffic operations along the corridor and reduce congestion, delays and vehicle emissions. This will include the modification at seven intersections along Freedom Blvd. from Martinelli Street to Airport Boulevard, utilizing existing infrastructure.

In preparation for the installation of the adaptive traffic control system, a separate company was contracted to connect the seven (7) traffic signals along the Freedom Boulevard Adaptive Traffic Signal project into the City’s fiber optic infrastructure that was installed in 2015.

So what does all of this mean? It means that the seven traffic signals from Martinelli to Airport will all communicate with each other. An adaptive traffic control is atraffic management strategy in which traffic signal timing changes, or adapts, based on actual traffic demand. This is accomplished using an adaptive trafficcontrol system consisting of both hardware and software.

The total cost of this project is $430,000 for design, procurement and installation of adaptive system. It will be funded by Gas Tax and a $200,000 Grant received from the Monterey Bay Unified Air Pollution Control District, Motor Vehicles Emissions Reduction Program.

For additional information on this project you can contact Adolfo Gonzalez, Traffic Systems Coordinator at 768-3140.