Marquette making progress on traffic signal upgrades

MARQUETTE — Residents and visitors to the city of Marquette may have noticed the recent updates being made to traffic signals.

The city is fixing old infrastructure dating back to the 1970’s, and bringing in new, updated technology. Every signal in the city is being equipped with new lights, totaling about 17.

At this point, new poles to hang them by have been put in place, but the city is still working diligently on hanging those new signals.

“Depending on the intersection, there’s some vehicle sensors – you see them there at the very busy intersections,” said City of Marquette Facility and Maintenance Director, Eric Stemen. “Washington Street –  those are on timers, because we wanted them to be  timed together, and that’s one thing we don’t really have now. One thing we’re able to do with the smart system is actually do traffic counting – halfway down Washington, we’ll be able to detect which way traffic is flowing, and  then do the optimal timing to improve traffic flow through that area.”

Currently, crews are working at the intersection of Presque Isle Avenue and Wright Street. The expected time of completion of the entire project is November of this year.