City crews to start work Sunday optimizing downtown traffic signals

Photo: Kristen Holliday

The intersection at Third Avenue and Victoria Street in Downtown Kamloops. Crews will work over two days in the coming week to optimize traffic signals, according to the city.

City crews will be making improvements to several downtown traffic signals, with a large team of electricians poised to start work on Sunday.

In a statement, the City of Kamloops said the majority of work will be completed on Sunday, with additional work to follow on Wednesday next week.

As part of the project, some intersections will have advanced “walk” signals for pedestrians, the first signal of its kind in Kamloops.

The city said motorists can expect some intersection closures and detours as crews complete their work.

The last signal optimizations were competed in 2013 for the morning peak traffic period, and in 2015 for the afternoon, according to the city.

Crews will be working to update signal timing for more recent traffic patterns through Kamloops’ downtown, including coordinating traffic lights along Landsdowne Street, Victoria Street, and Seymour Street.

“Drivers will experience a "green wave" as they progress through each intersection,” the city statement said.

On Victoria Street, a leading pedestrian interval will give a head start to people walking across signalled intersections.

An advanced walk signal will be triggered first, while vehicle traffic lights remain red for several seconds.

“Giving pedestrians a head start in this way has reduced conflict by enhancing the pedestrian visibility and reinforcing their right-of-way over turning vehicles,” the city said.

According to the city, while this type of pedestrian signalling is used in many other municipalities, this will be the first time it is used in Kamloops.

Additionally, several intersections will receive new traffic signal controllers and supporting equipment that will allow them to be connected to the Kamloops traffic management system.