Chattanooga's smart traffic system's IQ to increase, get remote control

City Transportation Director Blythe Bailey listens during a Chattanooga District 9 meeting in this May 3, 2014, file photo.
City Transportation Director Blythe Bailey listens during a Chattanooga District 9 meeting in this May 3, 2014, file photo.

Now we can tweak things from here to get traffic moving."

Chattanooga's intelligent transportation system will only get smarter in 2015.

The next two phases of the city's plan to fight traffic and air pollution with high-tech roadway gadgets will crank up in July, according to the city's master plan for transportation.

Transportation Director Blythe Bailey said Friday the city will continue enhancing traffic signals so they can be adjusted remotely. And the city plans to install closed-circuit cameras at some downtown intersections to monitor traffic and allow for "on the fly" changes.

Bailey said the cameras will "only be used to monitor traffic" and the improvements to the signals will save the city and residents time and money.

"If there was a problem with an intersection in the past, we had to send an electrician out with the bucket truck. Now we can tweak things from here to get traffic moving," Bailey said at the city transportation department.

According to the schedule, preliminary design and consultation for both projects will start in July.

Bailey said the plan is to have the city's traffic system tuned up well before the second phase of construction begins on U.S. 27. The Tennessee Department of Transportation expects to begin the next phase of highway construction late this year, he said.

"We are trying to work with TDOT to get our [closed-circuit] system in place. It will enable us to tweak things on the fly in case there's a major accident or traffic issue to get people home quicker," Bailey said.

The work is being paid for with federal Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality funds that were funneled through the state.

The first round of CMAQ grants came in 2010. The city received $8.9 million to improve signal timing downtown and along the city's major corridors -- such as Brainerd Road, East Brainerd Road, Rossville Boulevard and Highway 153 -- and put advance signal devices along major thoroughfares that automatically adjust timing based on traffic.

In August, the city received two more CMAQ grants totaling $1.4 million to build protected bike lanes downtown around the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga campus and to install more advanced signal devices.

Before the smart traffic projects start, another federal and state grant program will put crosswalks and sidewalks at Lakeside Academy. According to the master schedule, a TDOT contract for Safe Routes to School started Jan. 1. The city was awarded $243,000 for the project. Construction is scheduled to begin in December.

Since 2005, the state has paid out more than $12.3 million to more than 88 other pedestrian school projects statewide.

Contact staff writer Louie Brogdon atlbrogdon@timesfreepress.com, @glbrogdoniv on Twitter or at 423-757-6481.

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