357 traffic signals to be retimed in 2016 as part of anti-congestion plan

Toronto plans to retime 357 traffic signals on 17 corridors by the end of 2016 as part of the city’s congestion management plan.

More than 330 signals had already been targeted in 2015 which resulted in an 8 per cent reduction in vehicle delays and a 10 per cent drop in stops, according to the city.

Officials hope to have 1,500 signals retimed by the end of 2017 which is equivalent to about 60 per cent of Toronto’s traffic signals.

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The city said the work has to be done manually and are in the process of looking at options to improve the technology.

The city had promised to upgrade the next generation of smart traffic signal systems later this year with the introduction of a pilot project at 20 intersections in the area of Yonge/Lawrence ad Victoria Park/Sheppard.

Officials say a contract will be awarded to a vendor in the coming months. The plan is to expand the program up to 500 signals over the next five years.

The new traffic signals are designed to ease congestion in real-time during higher traffic volume periods.

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The signal retiming effort is one of six areas Mayor Tory has pinpointed to relieve congestion in the city.

The others include better road closure reporting, creating a traffic enforcement team, clamping down on private construction, speeding up public construction and instituting a parking enforcement campaign.