City Responds To Concerns Over East Side Traffic Light
An intersection in East El Paso has some residents concerned over the timing of the traffic lights.
Some people who live near Lee Boulevard and Edgemere Boulevard say the light changes too fast, forcing drivers to speed through or slam on their brakes.
It is the same intersection where an 11-year-girl was hit and killed Tuesday afternoon.
“Over the past year we have not received a single call requesting that we revise the timing,” said Ted Marquez, deputy director of the Department of Transportation for El Paso.
Marquez said the last time the intersection was checked was in 2010.
ABC-7 went to the east side intersection to time the green light on Lee Boulevard.
It ranged between 7 and 10 seconds per cycle, barely allowing about three or four cars to get through the intersection.
Marquez said there is not an exact timetable for the length of traffic lights.
“We actually do a study. We count the number of vehicles we look at the pedestrian crossings, the type of pedestrians that are crossing, and then we recalculate the timing for that location,” said Marquez.
A camera attached to the traffic signal detects the number of vehicles and adjusts the length of each light cycle.
As East El Paso expands, so does the workload for the city’s traffic department.
“As the city grows we adjust. Over the past years we’ve installed signals and we’ve done traffic adjustments and coordination for that area,” said Marquez.
