New Devices to Sync Traffic Lights for Emergency Vehicles

Traffic lights at six intersections in South Whitehall Township will get new devices installed in them that can synchronize green and red lights to allow fire and emergency vehicles to pass through unimpeded.

The South Whitehall Township Board of Commissioners approved at its Wednesday night meeting a $66,655 contract with Telco Inc. to install the safety light system. It was the only bid submitted.

Commissioner David Bond said the devices are small boxes called opticons that activate when a strobe light on an emergency vehicle strikes the signal from a distance. The fire company fleet already has light emitters installed.

"It trips every light to red except the way the emergency vehicles are going. It pushes them through safely," Bond said.

If two emergency vehicles arrive at the same time, the device activates on the first one it sees, he said.

Bond said most townships already have the devices on their traffic lights. 

"We're just catching up," he said.

The opticons will be installed at:

Hamilton Boulevard and Lincoln Avenue
Cedar Crest Boulevard and Office Center Road/Crest Plaza entrance
Cedar Crest Boulevard and Winchester Road/PennDOT driveway
Cedar Crest Boulevard and Route 22 westbound ramp
Cedar Crest Boulevard and Route 22 eastbound ramp
Cedar Crest Boulevard and Pennsylvania Street/Oxford Circle