Next Phase of Traffic Signal Retiming Project Begins Feb. 4
~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.