What is causing all the holiday traffic in Pittsburgh? PennDOT engineer explains the struggles of adaptive traffic technology
The holiday shopping rush is not just at the cash registers; it's also on the roads to get to the shopping centers. If last weekend's traffic gridlock seemed worse than you could remember, there's a reason why.
Mostly, you can place the blame on aging traffic technology that is struggling to handle the pressure.
Whichever major road you use to get to your store of choice, you're going to have a lot of company, and that is what adaptive traffic signals were designed to handle.
The pros, cons of adaptive traffic technology
"These systems have been installed probably around eight years [ago], approximately," said Stephanie Zolank of PennDOT. "They're getting to that timeframe when the technology needs to be regularly maintained, or it needs to be updated."
PennDOT traffic engineer Stephanie Zolnak said that they are aware of just how challenging Route 22 in Monroeville was last weekend.
"We definitely are having some concerns that we're working through right now along that corridor, specifically," she said.
Zolnak added that while the technology is adaptive, it is not instantaneous. It's adaptive over time, not right away.
Does that technology apply to Route 22 in Monroeville?
So now, PennDOT and Monroeville are looking to improve the flow on Business Route 22.
"It just takes that extra time and effort to work with the vendor, along with the municipality, to make any of those changes that the public is asking for in a specific location," Zolnak said.
Up until now, McKnight Road has been the shining star of the adaptive traffic system, using two systems working together to detect traffic, but it's not without drawbacks.
"We did just have a large-scale roadway project, which pulled out one of those detection types," Zolnak explained. "So, that was our redundancy; now we're relying on what's left."
With the sensors in the asphalt gone, the aging cameras are left to communicate intersection to intersection.
"That is very good; however, it's dated," she said. "We do have an upcoming project to update the signals along McKnight Road, and we're going to be adding that additional redundancy of radar detection."
Will we see changes across the Pittsburgh area?
That project, pardon the pun, is down the road, and in a place like Monroeville, it won't help this weekend.
"So, this weekend, it might still be heavy," Zolnak said. "You still need to plan ahead if you're going to be driving out and doing any shopping, or just any holiday destinations through this peak of traffic here through the wintertime."
Ross Township told KDKA-TV that they're working with their engineering company to tweak the system, but Zolnak said these systems simply aren't able to adjust on the fly to major spikes, as we see during the holiday shopping rush.
The message is simple: pack your patience and turn up the Christmas music if you're hitting the road.