Greenwich Installs CT's First Adaptive Traffic Signal System

GREENWICH, CT — Connecticut's first adaptive traffic signal system has been implemented at five signalized intersections on Arch Street in Greenwich, and officials are hoping it will help improve traffic flow, air quality and decrease travel time and congestion in the heavily trafficked corridor.

Several members from the Greenwich Department of Public Works along with First Selectman Fred Camillo held a ribbon cutting ceremony on Tuesday near Horseneck Lane to mark the implementation of the new technology.

Cutting-edge, Miovision cameras were installed on traffic signals at five intersections on Arch Street: at Railroad Avenue, Horseneck Lane, I-95 southbound and northbound ramps, and Steamboat Road/Museum Drive.

The cameras collect and analyze traffic data on directional traffic flow, vehicle delay and lane queue length. It can also determine the kind of vehicle traveling through the intersection, and if a pedestrian or bicyclist is moving through.

Software then receives the current traffic information provided by the cameras and automatically optimizes the traffic signal timing.

Traffic control boxes located at the intersections communicate with each other in real time through fiber optics.

"We're really excited," Camillo said of the new technology. "This is certainly going to reduce the traffic times when it's congested, and reduce the amount of time cars are emitting pollutants, which is all good."

The project also introduced the first yellow flashing arrow in the state, which is located at the Arch Street/Horseneck Lane intersection.

The flashing yellow arrow is a new type of signal located in a dedicated left-turn lane at a signalized intersection and signifies a yield to oncoming traffic, and alerts drivers to proceed with caution.

The light alleviates traffic and queue time by allowing vehicles to turn when there is no traffic in the opposing direction. Prior to the flashing yellow arrow, drivers had to wait for the green light, which caused traffic to back up onto the southbound I-95 exit ramp.

Deputy DPW Commissioner James Michel said roughly 35,000 cars travel through the Arch Street corridor every day.

"We were looking at different ways to improve traffic in this corridor because it's such a high volume area," he said, pointing to nearby I-95, train station, downtown area, Bruce Park, Bruce Museum and Roger Sherman Baldwin Park.

"We looked at this new technology, we thought it was a good option and we implemented it," Michel added.

It's been just two months, but the feedback has been positive, and Michel said there have been improvements to traffic flow. But it will probably take a year to collect data and understand just how much of an impact the system will have, he said.

"We're seeing the traffic is getting better, we're seeing our queues are much less, and we're very impressed with the way it has been working for us. We continue to monitor it, we continue to make tweaks to it, and we will continue to do that," Michel said.

The project cost $2.75 million and was funded through the Federal Highway Administration’s Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality (CMAQ) program.

In February, the town was given $4 million through the same program to install adaptive signal control technology on 29 traffic signals within the town boundary from Port Chester, N.Y. to Stamford on Route 1. The project will also instal audible pedestrian signal hardware.

Michel said the hope is to begin installation some time in 2023 or 2024.