Stamford Receives $3 Million to Improve Traffic System

*Editor's note: This story first published March 16. Here it is again, in case you missed it.

STAMFORD, CT – Great news for drivers negotiating long lines of traffic in Stamford.

The city of Stamford has been awarded $3 million in funding from the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) to upgrade traffic signal hardware and improve traffic signal optimization throughout Stamford. The city will be announcing related public participation and input initiatives in the next few months, according to an announcement from Mayor David Martin.

“Addressing transportation and traffic issues has been a priority since I took office,” Martin said. “Key areas that we found early on were traffic congestion and safety, which this funding will help.”

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Bureau Chief for Transportation, Traffic and Parking Joshua Benson said, “Optimizing the performance of a system of more than 200 traffic signals is a big challenge, particularly in a dynamic and growing community such as Stamford. We are grateful to have the support of the FHWA and Connecticut Department of Transportation to bring focus and talent to this endeavor.”

Martin said that in order to address traffic problems in the city, he will seek public input on issues that will be used by city engineers.

The city also will be seeking volunteers to submit anonymous data about their daily trips to include real world travel patterns in the optimization project.

Stamford plans to use the federal grant to upgrade the signal system and improve signal timings to achieve the primary objectives of the project, which include reoccurring congestion and minimizing delays to motorists and other street users. The optimization of the signal timings will result in the reduction in emissions and help increase safety for pedestrians, motorists and cyclists.