Fairhope, Alabama
PROBLEMS NOTICED
During their meeting yesterday in Spanish Fort, some Eastern Shore Policy Board members reported receiving complaints from citizens about the operation of traffic signals along Highway 98.
The multi-million dollar "adaptive" system was installed by the MPO to increase road capacity and shorten commute times along the highway; Daphne representatives Rudicell and Haygood specifically reported problems with "wait times" at the Daphne Ave., Van Ave, Main St., and US 90 intersections.
The Times has received questions about some signals in Fairhope as well; Parker Road in Fairhope is still not completely connected to the system.
STATE'S RESPONSIBILITY
ALDOT's engineer representative on the Board said they were already aware of some of the issues ... and had two engineers currently working to correct them; he said that the morning northbound rush-hour commute from Gayfer Road in Fairhope to the interstate was about 2 minutes shorter now according to their calculations ... but in the afternoon the southbound commute actually took longer.
Problems with "pucks" (sensors in/along the roads) ... and more break-in time needed for the computer software to learn traffic patterns (3 - 6 months) were cited as causes.
Enfgineer: "The system was installed to get traffic down 98 as quickly as possible."
(Differences in wait-times from cycle to cycle are normal operating conditions, he added.)
PATIENCE URGED
When asked about it later, Fairhope's Board representative Jack Burrell urged patience:
"The system is not currently functioning properly due to some “pucks” as they are called not working properly. Without the entire system functioning, we will not see the full benefits. I plan to stay patient as they work out the kinks. Once it is working properly, it will still take several months to get good data and for the system to learn the traffic patterns. In that time, traffic patterns can still change, i.e. school is in, or school is out for summer. There may be other benefits not that apparent, such as commute times may not decrease significantly, but that may be because there is much more volume. In other words, if the volume increases dramatically, and volume is certainly increasing along the Eastern Shore dramatically, and commute times are flat, that is indicative that the system if doing its job."
COMPLAINT FORM
Use the form below to report problems with the system or online at: http://easternshorempo.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/US-98-Complaint-Form.pdf
Sarah Hart Sislak is the MPO coordinator at the Fairhope court house.
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| US 98 in Daphne, Al. |
PROBLEMS NOTICED
During their meeting yesterday in Spanish Fort, some Eastern Shore Policy Board members reported receiving complaints from citizens about the operation of traffic signals along Highway 98.
The multi-million dollar "adaptive" system was installed by the MPO to increase road capacity and shorten commute times along the highway; Daphne representatives Rudicell and Haygood specifically reported problems with "wait times" at the Daphne Ave., Van Ave, Main St., and US 90 intersections.
The Times has received questions about some signals in Fairhope as well; Parker Road in Fairhope is still not completely connected to the system.
STATE'S RESPONSIBILITY
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| Policy Board April 2019 |
Problems with "pucks" (sensors in/along the roads) ... and more break-in time needed for the computer software to learn traffic patterns (3 - 6 months) were cited as causes.
Enfgineer: "The system was installed to get traffic down 98 as quickly as possible."
(Differences in wait-times from cycle to cycle are normal operating conditions, he added.)
PATIENCE URGED
When asked about it later, Fairhope's Board representative Jack Burrell urged patience:
"The system is not currently functioning properly due to some “pucks” as they are called not working properly. Without the entire system functioning, we will not see the full benefits. I plan to stay patient as they work out the kinks. Once it is working properly, it will still take several months to get good data and for the system to learn the traffic patterns. In that time, traffic patterns can still change, i.e. school is in, or school is out for summer. There may be other benefits not that apparent, such as commute times may not decrease significantly, but that may be because there is much more volume. In other words, if the volume increases dramatically, and volume is certainly increasing along the Eastern Shore dramatically, and commute times are flat, that is indicative that the system if doing its job."
COMPLAINT FORM
Use the form below to report problems with the system or online at: http://easternshorempo.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/US-98-Complaint-Form.pdf
Sarah Hart Sislak is the MPO coordinator at the Fairhope court house.
Comments
"Adaptive" is the actual technical term used by engineers to describe a series of signals that "adapt" to traffic conditions ... to facilitate shorter overall travel times.
Subsequent, to the Federal filing of Resner vs Single Tax Corporation 1974.
Now let's see how many actually show up at the polls this election cycle but unfortunately that is usually less than 25%.