Advanced traffic system improves commute on major Windsor roadways

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Drivers in some areas of Windsor are seeing a smoother commute.

As part of efforts to reduce congestion, advanced traffic management systems have been installed on four major roadways: Ouellette Avenue from Tecumseh Road to Eugenie Street; Dougall Avenue from Eugenie Street to Norfolk Street; Tecumseh Road from Dougall Avenue to Jefferson Boulevard; and Walker Road from Tecumseh Road to Ducharme Street.

The system allows traffic signal cycles to be adjusted based on real-time traffic conditions, particularly during rush hour between 6:30 a.m. and 8:30 a.m., and from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.

Traffic is monitored in a “situation room”-type setting at the municipal building on Mercer Street, where an employee can watch cameras and adjust traffic lights to respond to construction, crashes or other incidents.

The new system has led to shorter commute times and improved traffic flow in those corridors. For example, once drivers are on Ouellette Avenue at Tecumseh Road during rush hour, they do not encounter a red light until Cabana Road.

Stacey McGuire, the city’s executive director of operations, says significant data has been integrated into the system, allowing staff to adjust signal timings along entire corridors dynamically.

“We’ve put a lot of data into that system and basically we’re able to adjust all the signal timings along that whole corridor dynamically as traffic moves, which is greatly improving the system,” McGuire said.

She adds that four additional major corridors are now being examined.

“Council directed administration to implement a few further corridor studies, in particular on Wyandotte Street, Howard Avenue, Tecumseh Road and Walker Road,” she said. “They’ll do basically the same thing that we did on Dougall, so they’ve provided some funding and resources to move ahead.”

City council has also approved further traffic studies on several corridors, including Wyandotte Road East from Ouellette Avenue to Banwell Road; Howard Avenue from Cabana Road East to Tecumseh Road East; Tecumseh Road from Ouellette Avenue to Banwell Road; and Walker Road from Wyandotte Street East to the city limits.

McGuire says the work is ongoing and will take years to complete.

She says congestion is caused by vehicles exceeding roadway capacity, severe weather, construction, crashes and vehicle breakdowns. She adds Windsor is also experiencing population and employment growth at rates not seen before, further straining roadways.

A citywide congestion management plan is also in the works. It would expand the system and introduce other short-term solutions, such as construction management techniques to minimize disruption, promoting active and alternative transportation like walking and cycling, and improving transit use to help residents avoid congested areas.

The cost of the traffic studies, expanding the advanced traffic management systems in four new areas, and the congestion management plan is $1.5 million.