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Synchronicity
This is a shout out to City Manager Bernie Lynch, Assistant City Manager Adam Baacke, the Police Department, and the rest of the City Hall team who helped synchronize the traffic signals between the Thorndike-Dutton streets blend up through the intersections of Dutton-Broadway, Dutton-Market, and Dutton-Merrimack. As a regular on that route, I can only imagine the savings on energy (gasoline) and reduced emissions resulting from the adjustment of the timing on that sequence of traffic lights. It is a model for what can be done on other roadways that jam up due to uncoordinated block-after-block signals. Making it easier to navigate the city streets is a plus for everyone. I heard that funds designated for energy savings were used to recalibrate the light sequence, which itself is evidence of innovative thinking among the planners.
Maybe now someone can do something about the lights at Bridge st and the VFW highway. I t is faster to go up and over christian hill and emerge at Duck island than to sit and wait on Bridge st.
Thank you for posting this Paul. Transportation Engineer Eric Eby and our consulting design engineers from VHB deserve the credit for this one though. They were able to identify and effectively employ a relatively new technology that allowed these signals to be effectively synchronized. Previous efforts that were affordable were ineffective and previous approaches that would have worked proved far too costly.
With respect to PaulL’s comment, the VFW and Bridge Street is a state intersection so the City can’t address it on our own. However, the good news is that the state is designing a comprehensive improvement to it that should be implemented over the next few years.
I missed it the first time. I know the article is not about the album Synchronicity by the band Police. It is one of my favorite albums in its original “record” form. I will listen to it again and think about Lowell and Paul’s comments.