Denver Updates Traffic Signal Timing At 200+ Intersections

DENVER (CBS4) - The timing of more than 200 traffic signals in the Central Business District in Denver were updated Saturday morning. The Denver Department of Transportation and Infrastructure (DOTI) hopes re-timing these traffic signals will make it easier and safer to get to and from downtown.

"It's a big deal. This is more than 200 intersection downtown that we are doing with this effort," said Nancy Kuhn with the Denver DOTI. "Making it so the progression in and out of town is smooth, it's safe and works efficiently."

"From a driver perspective, you should be able to see less stops, is what we are shooting for and that's the metric that we measure ourselves against too," said DOTI Manager of Engineering Michael Finochio.

He and his team have been working on this project for more than a year and a half.

"It's not just about the vehicles. So, we have to consider the bicycles, the pedestrians, the transit movements and what we look at is a balanced approach to how all of those modes interact at intersections," he said.

The Denver Traffic Management Center will continue to monitor the changes and make minor adjustments, but they believe the change for drivers will be noticed right away.

The last time the signals were re-timed was back in 2011. Finochio says in the future their goal will be to do this every three to five years.