Time traffic signals to cut congestion

The Daily Herald, Aug. 5th, page one, had an article entitled "The price of traffic."

It is interesting in that it informs us that $7.3 billion is being lost because it takes us so long to get around due to congestion.

Part of that loss is not due to congestion. It is due to poorly or un-timed timed traffic signals.

In this age of high tech, there are still intersections that have no sensing technology to time the lights according to volume, and cars just sit there wasting fuel and time, waiting for the light to change.

These intersections have the same timing for their lights on Sunday mornings or the wee hours of the night that are used during the heavy traffic rush hours during the weekdays.

Let me give a classic example. Palatine Road is supposed to be a "junior expressway." On Palatine Road at Schoenbeck Road, the lights are exactly the same 24/7.

There is no variation ever. A green light on Palatine Road is one minute and 20 seconds long all the time. Every day and every hour of the day.

There are often 20 - 25 or more cars waiting on Schoenbeck Road and the local lanes and zero traffic going by during much of the Palatine Road green light.

The green on Palatine Road is simply too long. But the real issue is - why isn't the length of the light variable depending on the amount of traffic and the hour of the day?

It was at one time, but is not now. A big step backward.

I wonder how much fuel is being wasted every 24 hours at that one intersection alone.

Many intersections are equipped to sense the traffic, thankfully, and all of them that can be, should be.

I wonder what the reduction in lost dollars and wasted fuel would be in this region alone if all controlled intersections sensed the volume of traffic 24/7.

Robert Hansen

Prospect Heights