I'll spare you the dry, technical details of the ongoing regional traffic-signal-timing program.
But here's why you should care. The program helps you spend 10 percent less time sitting at red lights than you did a couple of years ago.
The Pima Association of Governments put together this proactive project.
Staff members adjusted the timing on 133 lights to make traffic more efficient and adjusted nearly 500 other lights to give pedestrians a little more time to cross safely, said PAG official Paul Casertano.
There are three related projects coming up.
Nearly 700 traffic signals and their timing plans have been entered into a model that will help engineers understand where lights can be adjusted to make traffic flow more smoothly.
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The team is reviewing HAWK pedestrian crossing lights to keep them from being too disruptive to traffic, sometimes having pedestrians wait a few seconds during rush hour times. And they'll soon be incorporating new technology that will let the HAWK signals "talk" to the intersection signals and work together for better timing.
Lastly, PAG will help find the $500,000 to $1 million needed to replace the central control system for traffic signals, which is only 12 years old and already obsolete.
Road Q
Question: "Weeds are totally out of control along the median and bike lanes of south Kolb Road from the Julian Wash Greenway south to I-10," writes Maggie Meyer.
"Traffic keeps the median weeds 'pruned' to the curb, but weeds are growing into the bike lanes. In some places 6-foot mesquites have grown in the median," she continues. "Who has jurisdiction for this stretch of south Kolb - county or state? This looks awful and presents a hazard for bicyclists."
Answer: The area you described is within city limits.
The city had a four-month blitz to clean up medians and roadsides earlier this year, but that work is done and maintenance is back on a regular monthly schedule using inmate labor, said city spokesman Michael Graham.
This month's schedule includes a cleanup of nearly eight miles of Kolb between Tanque Verde and Valencia. There is a service request on file for the stretch you're concerned about, which is south of the planned work area.
Anyone can call 791-3154 to make a complaint about weeds to make sure they get on the city's to-do list.
Send your Road Q questions by email to roadrunner@azstarnet.com or to 4850 S. Park Ave., Tucson, AZ 85714. Please include first and last names.
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