City hopes to address congestion with signal changes

On Wednesday, drivers heading through the intersection of Ringling Boulevard and Orange Avenue will see new stoplights managing the flow of cars, as the city continues to work to address traffic congestion issues on its roads.

Beginning Tuesday night, crews will remove the existing traffic signals and install new equipment, according to a release from the city. The new equipment is designed to sense the presence of vehicles at the intersection to determine when to change the lights, the release states.

The lights will also allow drivers to make left turns during a standard green light; previously, left turns were only allowed when a green arrow was showing.

“With the new all-in-one signal head system, drivers no longer will sit at the light when there isn’t oncoming traffic,” city engineer Alex DavisShaw said. “They’ll be able to yield on green and then make their left turn. We anticipate that will help traffic flow significantly.”

The city plans to add a roundabout to the intersection of Ringling and Orange in 2017, but staff determined the changes were worth implementing before then to address seasonal traffic problems. In March, the city and Florida Department of Transportation added a dedicated right turn lane at Fruitville Road and U.S. 41, another attempt to cut down on congestion.

Although FDOT says the changes at Fruitville and U.S. 41 have been working, some issues at the intersection have been related to driver behavior — drivers often aren’t recognizing that the patterns have changed. In the release, the city encourages drivers to be alert for traffic changes at Ringling and Orange.