Green Means Go. Why Drivers Are Seeing Fewer Red Lights in the Wexford Flats

If you’ve noticed improved traffic flow lately in the Wexford Flats area of Perry Highway in McCandless, it’s not an accident.

In mid-June, PennDOT added InSync, an adaptive traffic control system, to eight signals between Longvue Road, near the top of Pine Creek Hill, and North Chapel/Manor Road. 

The 2.33 mile-project spans Pine and McCandless townships

Scott Anderson, Pine’s assistant manager, said the new software adds green lights based on the number of cars waiting to move forward at traffic signals on Route 19 and on the side streets.

“It connects all the lights in the Wexford Flats project,” he said. “It tries to give as many green lights as it can on the Route 19 corridor.”

Anderson said each traffic signal has a camera installed that counts the number of cars waiting at an intersection.

He added the traffic cameras would not be used to monitor motorists who run red lights, as cameras do on the eastern side of the state. For example, in Philadelphia, police are able to issue $100 traffic violation tickets to offenders caught on camera.

That won’t be the case in Wexford.

“They're sort of facing the wrong way, anyway,” Anderson said of the cameras. “They’ll be looking at the front of the cars to count them.”

Anderson said he has received some positive comments about improved traffic flow from drivers on Route 19 since the control system was installed.

He himself also has noticed a change. On one afternoon, he passed through the entire Wexford Flats area without stopping for a red light.

“That has never happened before,” he said.

Although InSync has installed the adaptive traffic control systems in numerous locations across the country, Anderson said this is the first time the software has been used in western Pennsylvania.

According to the InSync statistics, communities using the control system may save up to $8 million in wasted time and fuel, 27 tanker trucks of gasoline, 33 years of wasted time and millions of pounds in air pollution.

The software was installed as part of the $18.1 Wexford Flats project, which began in January of 2011 and is just finishing up this summer.

In addition to the improved traffic signals, the project also widened Route 19 from 42 feet to 63 feet, added a center turn lane, curbed gutters and sidewalks.

About 28,000 vehicles use this section of Route 19 on an average day, according to PennDOT. 

What do you think about the new traffic control system? Have you noticed an improvement in traffic flow in the Wexford Flats area? Tell us in the comment section below.

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