August 1, 2017
Contact: Mary Enger, Communications Director, 636-949-1856, or 636-443-1008, menger@sccmo.org
St. Charles County, Missouri – Gateway Green Light (GGL), a cooperative effort to improve the coordination of traffic signals throughout St. Charles County, is getting national attention from the Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE). The program is a topic of conversation this week at ITE’s annual convention being held in Toronto, ON, Canada.
St. Charles County Manager of Roads and Bridges Amanda Brauer is communicating the program’s benefits to hundreds of engineers, public works directors, transportation managers and attendees from other related industries throughout the country – and beyond. Her message is that, through collaboration with multiple municipalities, the Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) and St. Charles County, the program is improving traffic signal operations throughout the county. It has proven to keep traffic flowing and drivers happy.
Construction on the GGL project started in 2013 with the installation of more than 120 miles of fiber optic cable linking signals, road sensors and observation cameras. Hardware and equipment on all 337 stoplights in the county were upgraded, and in 2015, the program became operational. Through the use of the central software, observation cameras, and time-space diagrams of traffic, the program is proactive in identifying concerns. What all that means is that now traffic signals are managed and monitored in “real time,” improving traffic flow and reducing delays and emissions that contribute to ozone pollution.
“I am pleased to be able to share our success with Gateway Green Light with so many of my peers in the transportation and traffic arena,” Brauer says. “This not only gives us an opportunity to promote St. Charles County, but also to assist others who may be facing the issues we faced prior to the initiation of GGL. And,” she continued, “I am learning about other programs and gathering ideas to bring back to St. Charles County for our consideration.”
-end-