The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Taking a big step to curb congestion, Dunwoody monitors all traffiffic signals
Upgraded system gives city control when needed.
Like many metro Atlanta cities that border major arteries, Dunwoody often struggles with traffiffic congestion around I-285.
But the city said Thursday it can now monitor that traffific and help mitigate some of it through a new “Traffiffic Control Center.”
The center is connected to all 60 traffic signals in Dunwoody, and staffff members can control them in real time.
“These are purely used to monitor traffiffic conditions at each intersection. We can look at the video along with the cycle of the signal in real time to troubleshoot and make timing adjustments,” Dunwoody Public Works Director Michael Smith said in a statement.
The center also has screens that allow traffiffic engineers to monitor busy intersections from live cameras.
Previously, the city said, it could control only a third of its traffiffic signals. The Perimeter Community Improvement Districts helped fund a project to upgrade signals in Dunwoody, Sandy Springs and Brookhaven and connect more signals in Dunwoody through a fifiber network.
The new center will be especially helpful when major incidents affect traffific in or out of Dunwoody.
“We can’t make traffic go away entirely, but we’re doing the best we can to get people through traffiffic,” Dunwoody Traffiffic Signal Engineer Eli Veith said in a statement. “If there’s an incident on I-285, and we know a lot of people are going to be getting offff and using the surface streets, we can change the plans we’re using for the traffiffic signals.”