City Fixes Out Of Sync Traffic Signals On Mesa

There has been an increase in congestion on Mesa Street over the past two weeks thanks to a communication line break from a traffic light, according to city officials.

The line was broken by construction crews working near Mesa Street and Cloudview Drive on Sept. 29th.

“When you have that happen, the signals that go outside of those areas start to lose their timing,” said El Paso Transportation Director Daryl Cole.

The break caused at least a dozen additional lights on Mesa Street to gradually become out of sync. The line was fixed Sunday, returning traffic back to normal on Monday.

Timing traffic lights decreases gas consumption, emissions and travel time.

“The less time you spend in traffic in your commute is more time you spend with your family, watching your kids play ball, taking them to school, whatever it may be,” said Cole.

The city has three full-time employees dedicated to making sure traffic signals are controlling flow efficiently.

Most cities only have communication with 60 to 70 percent of their traffic signals, but El Paso is way ahead of the times.

“We have more communication to our signal system than most of the populated cities, the large populated cities in the country. We’re over 95 percent of our signal system has communication to it,” said Cole.

That extra control means saving money at the gas pump, and saving time on the road.

As for those who complain that they are still hitting more than their fair share of red lights during their commute, Cole said speed may be to blame. He said the signals are timed so that those who travel at the speed limit down streets like Mesa should only encounter two or three red lights during their drive.