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'Smart' Stoplights That React to Traffic Flow Installed on Staten Island

By Nicholas Rizzi | October 10, 2014 4:42pm | Updated on October 13, 2014 8:46am
 The city installed six new "smart lights" on Staten Island this year. They are able to change their signal patterns to ease congestion.
The city installed six new "smart lights" on Staten Island this year. They are able to change their signal patterns to ease congestion.
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Flickr/grendelkhan

CONCORD —  A new "smart" traffic light that reacts to real-time vehicle flow has been installed at the busy intersection of Targee Street and Narrows Road North on Staten Island.

The "smart lights" use a signal control system to change traffic patterns to ease congestion, the Department of Transportation said. The city has already installed the lights at six busy intersections on Staten Island.

"Staten Island is a borough that relies heavily on its roads, so we need effective, inexpensive solutions to traffic congestion that are easy to implement — and smart light technology checks all of those boxes,” said Councilman Vincent Ignizio in a statement.

The city first installed "smart lights" at Victory Boulevard by the College of Staten Island as part of a pilot program in 2005 and was able to install more with funding from the Borough President's office and Ignizio.

Staten Island currently has 15 of the lights at various intersections, including three others on Richmond Road and Targee Street near the Staten Island Expressway.

“Smart lights are an essential aspect of improving traffic flow on Staten Island and these new locations are an excellent start to giving Island motorists a more efficient drive to their destinations," Councilman Steven Matteo said in a statement.