AUSTIN (KXAN) — The city of Austin wrapped a handful of 2018 mobility projects that are designed to make your commutes around town smoother.
Austin voters approved a $160 million transportation bond package in 2018, with $4.5 million allocated to safety and mobility improvements, upgrades for signals, controllers and firmware as well as new signal installations. Those enhancements included a group of major arterial management projects that centered around improving traffic flow.
Some of those projects included upgrades to the video management system at the city’s Mobility Management Center. That video monitoring system allows staff to track real-time traffic levels and quickly respond to any crashes or congestion build-ups.
The bond dollars also funded the addition of a transit signal priority system, which allows Transportation and Public Works staff to tweak signal timings and help extend green lights to minimize any delays in effect.
In a similar vein, the city is testing a new emergency vehicle preemption system that would allow emergency vehicles to change traffic lights to green while responding to emergencies, improving their response times and offering easier access for emergency responders. Right now, the city is testing the system with nine vehicles and at 100 intersections, with a full implementation expected by the end of this year.
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