Citywide Traffic Signal Upgrades Start This Week In Strongsville

STRONGSVILLE, OH — The upgrading of all of Strongsville's traffic signals will begin this week, the city announced. The upgrades are being funded by a $1.4 million grant awarded by the Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency.

"The project will replace the outdated equipment controlling the traffic lights to create better efficiency along the main roads — including adaptive technology that can sense inefficiencies and self-adjust. Signals on wires will be replaced with poles and mast arms," the city said in a statement posted to social media.

Crews will complete the upgrades in phases, the city said. The upgrades will require sporadic lane closures. The first section of the city to be impacted will be the area surrounding SouthPark Mall. Engineers want to complete work at the site prior to the holiday shopping crunch.

Crews will be drilling and pouring concrete for pole foundations along Royalton Road, near the mall. The city wants to get this phase of construction completed prior to Thanksgiving. This week will see work begin at the mall entrance across from Starbucks. Work should take four days to complete.

After finishing the work near Starbucks, crews will move to Royalton and Howe, then to Royalton and the I-71 ramp. That phase of work should be finished by November 22. While crews are working, however, curb lanes may be closed. Lanes will re-open at night.

"After that, they'll pour the foundations at Boston-Prospect, Drake-Howe, Pearl-Aldi, Royalton-Ordner, Royalton-Webster and Prospect-Westwood. Those should be finished by the end of the year," the city said.

Crews will also be installing safety upgrades throughout Strongsville, including backplates to improve signal visibility and uninterruptible power supplies to keep traffic signals working during power outages. Countdown-type pedestrian signals will be added, radar and video detectors will aid bicycle safety and curb ramps will be replaced to meet ADA standards.

"All incandescent lamps will be replaced with LED lamps to reduce energy consumption, and fiber optic lines will be installed in areas where dial-up modems are currently used," the city said.

Background

The project was originally slated to start in 2022, the city said. Mayor Tom Perciak and NOACA worked together to secure the change in schedule.

The city has been working on the signal project since 2013, when it hired TMS Engineers to prepare plans. Officials have been seeking funding for the project ever since," the city said on its website.

The upgraded traffic signals will be better synchronized, allowing their cycles to regulate based on traffic flow, the city said.