THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, July 6, 1996 TAG: 9607060383
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY KAREN WEINTRAUB, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: 59 lines
Those annoying waits at traffic lights will soon get a little shorter and a little less frequent, thanks to the federal government.
But you may not notice the difference.
The federal government is paying to re-time and evaluate traffic lights at nearly all of the city's 300 intersections with signals. About half the work was completed last year. This week, the Beach City Council accepted a grant to finish the job.
The improved timings mean motorists won't have to stop as often or as long at intersections. But because most of the changes will be tiny, you probably won't be able to tell that you're getting home or to work just a bit faster.
``You may not notice it, but it certainly does make a world of difference when you multiply by the number of vehicles on the road,'' said R. Michael Greenwood, a civil engineer who's in charge of traffic lights, signs and markings for Virginia Beach. ``If I can shorten your time 10 seconds on a trip, that may not seem like much, but multiply that by 40,000 vehicles every day for a year, and it makes a significant difference, especially with gas emissions.''
The federal government pays for the labor-intensive work - which includes measuring traffic and checking and changing the timing of individual signals - as part of its efforts to clean up the air. Cars moving steadily pollute far less than those that have to start and stop.
Greenwood said the city estimates it generated $2 million in air quality and time-saving benefits last year by investing $57,000 in traffic-signal adjustments along parts of Indian River, First Colonial and Providence roads.
The first phase of the signalization project cost $250,000 and covered 132 intersections, mostly along Indian River Road, Lynnhaven Parkway and First Colonial Road.
The second phase, which the council approved in May, includes the introduction of summer and winter timings at the Oceanfront, all of Virginia Beach Boulevard, Military Highway, the western end of Lynnhaven Parkway and the western end of Princess Anne Road, Greenwood said. Improvements to those 106 intersections will cost $195,000.
The latest work, which will take about 12 to 18 months to complete, will account for Christmas driving patterns along Lynnhaven Parkway, on Virginia Beach Boulevard around Pembroke Mall and on Laskin Road near Hilltop, Greenwood said. South Independence and Baxter roads, among others, will also be re-timed, at a total cost of $150,000.
The costs for all three phases will be paid by the state and federal governments.
Greenwood said he finds red lights less frustrating, now that he understands the difficulties of making them all green at the right time.
Working in the traffic engineering office, ``you realize the intricacies of it and that you can't make it green for everybody,'' he said. ``When I talk to people and explain the limitations I have - a lot of times they lighten up a little bit.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo by CANDICE C. CUSIC, The Virginian-Pilot
The federal government is paying to evaluate and re-time traffic
lights at all of the 300 Virginia Beach intersections that have
signals. by CNB