NILES Traffic signal project delayed

The plan is to link traffic signals together and put the system within city hall, according to city officials.
By DENISE DICK
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
NILES -- A project to link the city's traffic signals won't start until the fall, pushed back from the summer.
The delay was caused when city officials discovered that the signal at Vienna and Robbins avenues inadvertently had been left out of the plans, said Mark Hess, city coordinator of engineering, grants and development.
The project is being paid for with a $1 million federal highway grant administered by the Eastgate Council of Regional Governments. The city hired Burgess and Niple of Columbus for about $70,000 to do the design of the project.
The plan is to link the majority of the traffic signals in the city and locate the system in city hall.
"If a light goes out, the light department will know immediately," Hess said.
"If traffic gets backed up at one intersection, they can adjust the timing to try to move traffic through."
In 1994, the city installed a signal system on U.S. 422.
"There are loop sensors in every lane," Hess said.
"It's to keep the progression going on [U.S.] 422."
Similar system: A similar system was installed on Main Street in 1998.
The Main Street light system also includes a pre-emptive system for the fire department that allows firefighters to activate the signals on the way to a scene.
Earlier this year, the board of education approved spending $5,600 from its Ohio Schools Facilities Commission grant to have a light at the Main Street-Second Street intersection included in the project design.
The cost will include determining whether traffic at the intersection merit a signal.
The new middle school building, being constructed with the state grant and local matching dollars, will be constructed in Brynhyfryd Park, near the Main-Second Street intersection on the city's south side.
The new 93,000-square-foot school for pupils in grades six through eight will replace the 87-year-old Edison Junior High School.
When the design is completed, the Columbus company must submit the plans to Ohio Department of Transportation for approval.