Synchronize traffic lights? We can barely keep them on

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This article was published 09/07/2011 (5230 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A long-promised plan to synchronize Winnipeg’s traffic lights is six months behind schedule, a symptom of bigger problems in the city’s signal branch.

According to an internal audit released Friday, the branch is mired in ancient technology, lacks maintenance plans or performance measures and is so understaffed and poorly managed that overtime costs topped $1.1 million over the last three years.

The branch is in the third year of a five-year improvement project to upgrade lights on a dozen major routes and the downtown. That could placate drivers plagued by red lights at every intersection.

But no staff are dedicated to the $11.5-million project and those working on it get pulled off when other problems pop up. According to the auditors, the synchronization project is six months behind schedule and the 2012 completion target looks unlikely. Roughly nine streets like Kenaston Boulevard and Portage Avenue are done but the downtown has proven so tricky it’s been left until last.

“I’m extremely disappointed,” said Mayor Sam Katz Friday. “I will tell you no one is very happy with this result.”

Katz’s executive policy committee will consider the auditor’s report and its 19 recommendations Wednesday.

Among those, the auditor suggested the city consider contracting out certain functions. Other cities have outsourced underground construction work, design functions and maintenance.

The 40-person branch has been short four or five staff members in the last three years and turnover has been high.

The branch’s first-responder teams — two electricians sent out to fix broken traffic lights — are responsible for a large chunk of the $1.1 million on overtime. Auditors say the schedule must be overhauled and two electricians aren’t necessary. An electrician and a technician would do, thus reducing costs and making scheduling more flexible.

The branch is also hampered by traffic lights that are 30 to 40 years old.

Roughly a third of the city’s 611 traffic lights rely on old electro-mechanical controllers similar to a timing dial. Changing a traffic light’s timing means moving a pin around on an internal dial, which limits how much engineers can adjust light synchronization.

Auditors also recommended the city must review and rate every traffic light to figure out which ones need to be fixed on a priority basis, and the branch should create performance measures and a maintenance schedule so small problems like burnt-out light bulbs or crosswalk push-button failures are caught early.

There are some bright spots. Despite the hefty overtime payouts, the branch is often under-budget and total expenses dropped 8.4 per cent between 2007 and 2009.

Luis Escobar, the manager of the transportation division, couldn’t be reached for comment Friday, but city staff released an email statement.

“The public works department sees the audit report for the traffic signals branch as an objective review of the branch’s operation,” said the statement. “As noted in the report, management agrees with those recommendations and, in fact, had already started working on initiatives noted in the audit report.”

maryagnes.welch@freepress.mb.ca