County Judge Robert Eckels wants to see more traffic light synchronization.
Signals cannot be synchronized in some areas now because signals installed by the county, Texas Department of Transportation and city are often incompatible, he said.
Synchronization generally involves setting lights to change sequentially, so traffic maintaining a certain speed can pass through numerous intersections without stopping.
As county, city and TxDOT signals wear out in the coming years, they will be replaced by equipment that is compatible, and more lights will be synchronized, including in the congested Galleria area, he said.
He praised Mayor Bill White for overseeing the synchronization of downtown traffic signals.
That sounds as good to me as Mayor White’s initiative, which was one of the very first things he did in office, did. I guess I’m just a little puzzled at how there could be county and/or TxDOT signals in the Galleria area. I would have thought that since this is solely City of Houston territory, only city traffic lights would be there. Maybe the ones on the service road at 610 are TxDOT’s, but where would the county have a hand in this? I’m just asking.
Minor point, and whatever the logistics, I like the idea. This was from Eckels’ state of the county speech, for which Anne has more info.
Anything that happens along state highways (like the loop near the Galleria, as well as its access roads and underpasses) is a TXDOT light, more than likely, and installed under their jurisdiction, not the city or county’s.
Westheimer is actually a Farm-to-Market road, which would put it under TxDOT control, I believe.
Since Eckels, while turning at an intersection, almost ran me over in the crosswalk once. I think they should all be unsynched.