Street lights at several major intersections will be changed as the Lake Havasu Metropolitan Planning Authority works to improve traffic light timing.
The MPO, a regional transportation policy-making organization, has five members representing the city, Mohave County, Arizona Department of Transportation, Western Arizona Council of Governments, and the Federal Highway Administration.
The organization hired Kimley Horn as an engineering consultant for the project to improve traffic flow.
A study on traffic signal timing in Havasu City is underway, focusing on 17 intersections in Lake Havasu City along State Route 95, Lake Havasu Avenue and McCulloch Boulevard.
According to the MPO website, the goal is to “improve the overall efficiency and operation of three critical corridors for the safe and efficient movement of people, goods and services within the LHMPO region.”
At Tuesday's MPO Technical Advisory Committee meeting, Anita Johari and Kimley Horn gave a presentation on the scope of work to begin the project.
The 18-month project includes traffic data collection, traffic observations, and examination of traffic light and crash data. This includes working with ADOT and the city.
Johari said during the meeting that the first step, traffic data collection, has already begun and will measure traffic 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
“We will continue to develop a list of improvements throughout the process and use that to consider what is the appropriate set of improvements for these intersections,” Johari said.
She added that improvements could be made at the intersection level or at the corridor level along the three roads.
Alternative timing plans will also take into account changing traffic conditions and road closures during special events and major weekends.
Previous work was also done by ADOT on a 13-mile section of SR 95 in 2021. To improve traffic flow. New technology has been introduced to communicate between traffic lights, allowing engineers to remotely monitor traffic conditions.
As new projects continue into next year, Kimley-Horn will continue to provide regular updates at MPO TAC meetings, Johari said. The meeting is open to the public and will be held on Zoom.
