Big Brother Calling The Signals

The traffic signals along five key Queens arteries will be made part of the borough-wide, 1,800 corner computerized traffic grid system by the Department of Transportation (DOT).
Part of an ongoing citywide traffic signal upgrading program, DOT field crews are replacing the boroughs less-efficient, mechanically-timed control boxes with computer-controlled signals.
Starting next spring, these crews will upgrade signal control boxes along Kissena, Bell, College Point and Willets Point Boulevards, as well as 14th Avenue. Major arteries, such as Northern, Queens and Woodhaven Boulevards and Jamaica Avenue have already been computerized.
This move will also permit installation of radio receivers in neighborhood traffic control boxes that will link them to a central computer in Long Island City. Cheaper and easier to maintain, the new system eliminates the installation and maintenance of complex underground wiring costs from about $13 million to $7 million, speeds signal installation time, and simplifies street maintenance.
The lights operate on a wide variety of programs that change the signal timing to meet predetermined traffic conditions all day, every day.
In business and commercial districts, signal timing allowances are made during each day of the week for rush hours as well as during heavy shopping days.
In residential areas, parents and school officials know that traffic lights near schools will be automatically timed to give additional time for youngsters to cross signalled street corners during morning drop-offs and afternoon dismissals on weekdays.
This project also includes a "smart signal" system featuring traffic sensors embedded at critical corners along often-clogged intersections. This information is transmitted to the computers, which immediately analyze this information to identify and respond to unusual tie-ups.
Computerized signals were installed on an 11.2-mile stretch of Northern Boulevard in 1969, but were scrapped in 1986 because its cables were incapable of transmitting enough information from their Manhattan sensors.