ELK GROVE — The City of Elk Grove is working to synchronize its major traffic signals to reduce driver frustration and congestion.
City of Elk Grove Public Works Director Jeff Werner said they coordinated the signal timing on Elk Grove and Laguna Boulevards five years ago and saw a travel time reduction of about 50%.
The goal is to do the same, but drivers will have to buckle up during the testing period.
"It's just getting busier," said Mark Fairchilds, who has lived in Elk Grove for over a decade. "Elk Grove is very popular."
The city is running tests on the traffic signals on these eight main corridors to see what timing works best: Whitelock Pkwy., Elk Grove Blvd., Laguna Blvd. and Bond Rd., Big Horn Blvd., Elk Grove Florin, Sheldon Rd., Bruceville Rd. and Grant Line Rd.
"I am not one of those impatient people," said Elk Grove resident Rebecca Rodriguez. "If I have to wait, then I have to wait."
CBS News Sacramento timed the drive across town for themselves just before noon Monday, clocking the drive from Highway 99 to Interstate 5 on westbound Laguna Boulevard at a little over eleven minutes, hitting six red lights.
Turning from a side street onto Elk Grove Boulevard timed out to a little over a two-minute wait.
"You have to wait and wait and wait and there's no traffic coming the opposite direction," said Rodriguez. "That's what makes me mad. There are no cars."
As the main streets sync up, CBS News Sacramento got answers why some drivers feel like they are waiting longer at side streets.
"We give priority to the main lines where the majority of traffic is coming from," said Werner. "When people are sitting there thinking, wow I have been at this light for a long time, you may have been there for two and a half minutes, and you won't be there for longer than that."
Werner took CBS News Sacramento inside the city's traffic monitor center. We learned that if you have felt traffic signals out of sync, it is likely because they may have been disrupted by an emergency vehicle or someone crossing the street at the signal.
"It could take 15 or 20 minutes to get back into synchronization," said Werner.
Some drivers, like Fairchilds, said they know ways around side streets to avoid getting caught up on the busy main streets.
"Don't want to tell my side streets because that's where I get to sneak through," Fairchilds said.
Werner said if any residents have any issues with a specific intersection, they want to hear from you with the exact location, time of day and length of time you were waiting.
The project is funded through Measure E, which was a sales tax approved by voters in 2022.
The contractor who has been testing the signals is expected to have the data from the tests in about two weeks. You can call the City of Elk Grove Public Works Department at (916) 478-2256.
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