Reconfigured traffic lights speed Sunset traffic

Bakerview next to get remote control technology

JARED PABEN

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BELLINGHAM — City officials started manipulating traffic signals along Sunset Drive a few weeks ago, and that’s made a “huge difference” in relieving traffic congestion, a Bellingham Public Works official said.

Now the city is looking to do the same thing on West Bakerview Road near Interstate 5, a fast-growing area with sometimes intense congestion.

At roughly $10,000 per intersection, Public Works officials install the technology to remotely change the lengths of green lights from Public Works headquarters. On Sunset Drive, officials installed the technology between James and Woburn streets, giving more green-light time to drivers on Sunset, said Clark Williams, Public Works superintendent of transportation and communications. That makes drivers on side streets wait longer for green lights, but it reduces backups on Sunset, including the queue of cars waiting to turn into Sunset Square, he said.

“We move so many more vehicles through the main street that it’s incredible,” he said.

Traffic experts fine tune the best signal times for certain times of day. They take those times and create programs, which automatically cycle the lights. After fine tuning, officials move on to a new location in the city, Williams said.

After Sunset, officials planned to turn their attention to Lakeway Drive or Samish Way near Interstate 5, but they changed their minds because of the growth near Bakerview and the congestion it’s brought, he said. Now, they’ll change signal timing from Bennett Drive to Northwest Avenue.

Currently, Public Works is studying the traffic patterns there. According to a 2007 traffic count, more than 16,000 vehicles a day drive that stretch. While a deadline hasn’t been set for completing the project, staff hope to finish it this year. It took them between six and eight months to complete Sunset signal manipulations.

After Bakerview, staff will probably focus their attention on Samish Way near I-5.