EAST PEORIA, Ill. — East Peoria City Council put plans into motion on Tuesday night to invest in traffic technology to make three intersections safer.
Commissioners approved a first reading of a resolution that would green-light “dilemma zone detection,” smart technology that can alter a traffic light’s timing based on oncoming traffic.
Sensors are placed on top of poles near a given intersection that detect oncoming vehicles’ speed and distance from a traffic light. Those sensors then estimate whether or not it’s safe for the light to change colors and, if it isn’t safe, it tells the light to delay changing colors until the car has passed through.
The resolution was introduced by Commissioner Dan Decker.
“I’ve been in emergency services for a long time. One of the most difficult things to see is when you go to accidents where somebody’s just driving down the road and, whether it be a mistake or something happens, someone gets hit,” he said.
“These intersections we’re talking about tonight are ones that are extremely dangerous and there have been fatalities at a couple of these intersections. So, whenever we can do anything to make them safer, we should jump at the opportunity.
“If you start looking at the future of traffic control, there’s a lot more of this out there. These smart devices will actually be looking at the potential to see hey, this guy’s coming down the road and not paying attention, and try to halt everybody else.”
The locations in question are all along Route 116: at Centennial Dr., at Mariner’s Way, and at Marina Dr.
Since the intersections are at state routes and side roads, maintenance is shared by the city with the Illinois Department of Transportation. IDOT would pay for the bulk of the sum, estimated at somewhere between $114,000 and $142,000, while the city would only owe around $4,800.
The Mariner’s Way intersection would also be upgraded with LED lights.
