Crews pour the mast arm foundation at the I-95 northbound ramp.
Prior to the installation of new street lights with Adaptive Signal Control Technology (ASCT), road crossings were excavated on Arch Street in Greenwich, Conn.
"The crossings were excavated and all concrete foundations that hold up the steel poles for traffic lights were put in place," said Ross Rizzo, vice president of The NY-Conn Corporation of Danbury, Conn., the contractor on the job. "We dug the foundations 12 to 13 feet deep and poured the concrete and installed a rebar cage with eight anchor bolts. Then, we installed steel mast arms that were designed for each intersection."
He said the company used Takeuchi and Bobcat mini-excavators, John Deere backhoes and Altec pressure diggers on the job along with six-wheel dump trucks.
The job has continued, but with one major problem.
"The biggest issue is material delays due to COVID," Rizzo said. "We are still waiting for LEDs that are now scheduled for mid-December. We can't install the lights without that component.
"And there are always utility conflicts," Rizzo added. "We drill so deep in the ground and it takes coordination early on, which we did for this project."
Gabriella Circosta-Cohee, Greenwich senior engineer, said the old mast arms and controller boxes will be taken down after the new LED signal heads are installed and ASCT are operational.
"The installation of overhead fiber wires and connection will take place next, followed by the installation of the traffic signal heads and system integration," she said.
The project focuses on five signalized intersections on Arch Street: Arch Street & Railroad Avenue, Arch Street & Horseneck Lane, Arch Street and I-95 southbound, Arch Street and I-95 northbound and Arch Street and Steamboat Road/Museum Drive. Arch Street has an average traffic volume of 35,000 vehicles per day and according to the town, "Adaptive Signal Control Technology will detect and respond to heavy traffic volumes in a timely and efficient manner to improve the safety and movement of people and goods through the corridor.
"ASCT will maximize the efficient use of green time at intersections, minimize queuing onto the I-95 mainline during heavy commuter peaks, heavy volume days, and incidents on I-95, and optimize progression through the closely spaced intersections along Arch Street."
"Greenwich's use of ASCT is the first of its kind in the area and is synch-based on cameras that will detect cue lumps in traffic, the length of cues at each intersection and formulate the signal duration for red and green lights," said Circosta-Cohee.
Rizzo added, "It's one of the first times it's been used to coordinate signals to keep traffic flowing and Arch Street is very busy because of its proximity to I-95."
Greenwich is using McCain ASCT adaptive software on the job, which the company said "generates optimal signal timing parameters across an arterial network by adjusting cycle lengths, phase splits, and offsets based on prevailing traffic. It provides a suite of synchronization strategies to improve operations and mobility."
"Synchronizing lights with ASCT on I-95 ramps in a heavily traveled area will save on congestion and improve air quality by eliminating wait time," said Circosta-Cohee.
Construction began on the Arch Street job in August 2020 and street light street installation will be completed in February 2022. The budget for the job is $2,197,393 with most paid by a federal Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality grant. The town of Greenwich will pay for part of the job that includes design fees of $554,000 and inspection fees of $282,000. CEG
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