Project to Synchronize Traffic Lights in Fresno

February 1, 2006 -- The Fresno County grand jury named traffic as Fresno's number one problem and accused the city of lacking the commitment to fix it.

Part of the city's solution is to synchronize traffic lights on Blackstone, Herndon, Willow and Kings Canyon — a project that should be complete within nine months.

The $16 million traffic light synchronization plan is supposed to cut down on congestion.

A big part of the project is already done, but it's only synchronized during rush hour and it's pretty hard to tell the difference.

Valley drivers are used to long delays on Blackstone Avenue. But now that it's the first fully synchronized street in all of Fresno, a lot of people are looking forward to smooth sailing.

But not so fast. Action News made the seven-mile drive from Olive to Herndon and had to stop for ten traffic lights.

Traffic engineering manager Scott Mozier says the goal is to reduce the amount of time drivers sit at red lights, rather than helping them to hit all green lights.

But, the federal government is footing most of the bill for synchronization with the goal of cutting down on pollution.

Several studies have shown that traffic synchronization cuts down on pollution by as much as 7%.

But, a huge portion of pollution is created when a driver hits the gas after coming to a stop.

Mozier says it's almost impossible to miss red lights on Blackstone because of busy intersections and left turn lanes. He says synchronization gets the average driver off the road 10% faster, so they're creating less pollution.

Still, other cities, like Modesto, have found a way to fully synchronize lights and local drivers says they want the same from Fresno.

Mozier says the city is at least considering full synchronization on Herndon.

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