HERMITAGE, PA. City plans to aid emergencies with sensor-activated lights

Sensors alerted by approaching sirens will turn traffic lights green.
HERMITAGE, Pa. -- The city commissioners want to make it easier for police and fire department vehicles on emergency calls to get through traffic.
They intend to install traffic signal preemption systems at all of the roadway intersections in the city controlled by traffic lights.
City Manager Gary Hinkson told the commissioners at a workshop Thursday that Bruce & amp; Merilees of New Castle was the only company to bid on putting the system into the first seven intersections on the list. The bid is $50,428, he said, noting the commissioners can approve the contract at their meeting Wednesday.
Adding streets: The city plans to do a few more intersections each year, he said.
The system has a sensor device that "hears" the siren of the approaching emergency vehicle and cycles the traffic light to give the approaching vehicle a green light, Hinkson said.
The light will stay green for a set period, giving the emergency vehicle time to roll safely through the intersection, he said.
Ambulance services will be able to use the system as well, provided their sirens are compatible with the sensors, he said.
The first intersections proposed to get the system are:
U'East State Street and Buhl Farm Drive.
U'South Hermitage Road and the Shenango Valley Freeway.
U'East State Street and Dutch Lane/Maple Drive.
U'South Buhl Farm Drive and the Shenango Valley Freeway.
U'East State Street and Kerrwood Drive.
U'Maple Drive and the Shenango Valley Freeway.
U'East State Street and the Shenango Valley Freeway.