204 traffic signals to be installed

204 traffic signals to be installed

Anil Kumar Sastry

BANGALORE: To streamline traffic in the city’s peripheral areas, the Bangalore Traffic Police will install 204 more traffic signals at major junctions within nine months.

Roughly, 20 traffic signals will be installed every month, beginning July.

Chaos reigns at these junctions, as motorists try to jump signals despite the presence of traffic policemen.

The problem becomes worse when there are no traffic policemen.

Apart from installing the signals, 170 existing signals in various parts of the city will be upgraded by July-end, Additional Commissioner of Police (Traffic and Security) Praveen Sood told The Hindu.

He said that all 204 new signals would also be vehicle-actuated.

At present, the city has nearly 40,000 intersections, of which 600 are regulated manually and only 170 are controlled through electronic signals.

At present, these signals operate on time-based system, where the timing will change during the peak and off-peak hours.

Traffic approaching these signals will be gauged by sensors that are implanted on roads that join the junctions.

These sensors will be implanted 50 metres away from the junction, and whenever vehicles pass over these sensors, an electronic message will be transmitted to the Control Room which regulates the signal lights.
Cameras

Also, surveillance cameras that are installed as well as those proposed to be installed at various junctions will come in handy for the traffic police to monitor and operate these vehicle-actuated signals.

These signals will be networked and connected to the Traffic Management Centre, now located at the Ashoknagar police station, through the network of Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd.

Mr. Sood noted that the benefits of vehicle-actuated signals would be clear during off-peak hours, while during peak-hours time-based signals would work well.