New adaptive technology will help retime traffic signals in real time, DOT officials say.

Nearly 100 signals installed along State 29 in Spartanburg and Greenville counties are part of the larger I-85 corridor project.

The new system will help signals respond to "unexpected events," but can't solve rush hour congestion issues.

If you noticed an increase in particularly bad traffic on Wade Hampton Boulevard last spring — especially in Taylors — there was a reason for that.

"Now that you mention it, I did notice traffic being really bad, but I always assumed it was because Greenville was growing so much," Julia Sudduth, a Greer resident who commutes to downtown Greenville every day, said of the issues she noticed this spring.

While rising populations are putting more cars on Greenville County roads, a malfunctioning traffic signal detector was to blame for congestion from March to May this year.

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The newly installed adaptive signaling technology was turned off "at the end of May," State DOT engineer Sean Knight said. "The system wasn't operating as it was supposed to, so we took it out of operation," he said.

The company that created the technology will begin repairing the systems this week on Aug. 15. Knight said he hopes for the signal systems to be up and running again by "late September or early October."

What went wrong?

In mid-March, the South Carolina Department of Transportation began switching traffic signals along US 29, or Wade Hampton Boulevard, to adaptive signaling technology.

The new traffic lights, which form a "system" at every intersection, were installed from Spartanburg to Greenville on U.S. 29 and along many of its side roads, according to SCDOT.

The systems use detection instruments to monitor traffic volume in real time, adjusting signal timings as traffic conditions change, according to Michael Holden, an engineer with SCDOT District 3. Holden's district office covers Greenville and Spartanburg counties, among others. Similar systems are already in use in parts of the Lowcountry and Midlands, according to V. Carol Jones, a traffic signal and systems engineer at SCDOT's Columbia headquarters.

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When the signals were installed, Knight said his 3 office noticed issues with signal system's detection instruments, which are placed in the roads.

Knight said the issues affected left turn lanes and side roads, causing back ups at many busy intersections, including the Wade Hampton Blvd. intersections at State 101 (Buncombe Road) in Greer and Reid School Road in Taylors.

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"It was terrible. We could not figure out what was happening," said Christin Pullman, who got caught in the increased morning traffic caused by the malfunctioning signals while taking her children to school in Taylors.

Holden said their office received numerous complaints from drivers. The issues affected both Spartanburg and Greenville county residents.

Sudduth, who grew up in Greer and has seen the growth of the area firsthand, said she's not sure how to fix Wade Hampton Boulevard's traffic problems, but "I definitely think tech that works properly is crucial."

Not a cure-all, but a good start

Nearly 100 new traffic signals were installed over roughly 30 miles along the busy seven-lane highway to help ease traffic issues, but the new technology won't be a cure-all for rush hour blues.

"Adaptive [signaling] won't make things run better, all it does is manage what's out there," Jones said. Wade Hampton and many of its side streets are already over capacity at peak travel times, Jones said.

Over a 24-hour period, parts of U.S. 29 can have anywhere from 28,000 to 40,000 vehicles pass through high-density areas, like near Pleasantburg Drive or Cleveland Street, according to a 2018 SCDOT traffic study.

In January, a traffic study conducted at the intersection of Reid School Road and Wade Hampton Boulevard found that between 7:00 and 8:00 a.m., 1,886 vehicles drove through the intersection. This number does not account for drivers making left or right turns, or drivers coming from Reid School Road, according to Knight.

The new SynchroGreen technology will help diffuse traffic jams during "unexpected events," meaning anything from high school football games to an influx of people bypassing I-85, Jones said.

"[Wade Hampton Boulevard] is not an interstate, so it will never operate like I-85," Jones said, meaning the stop-start nature of the seven-lane highway is unlikely to change.

Sudduth doesn't expect Wade Hampton Boulevard to act like an interstate, either.

"I feel like a lot of traffic [on Wade Hampton Boulevard] will be inevitable due to the volume of people commuting into Greenville," she said. A 2018 study revealed that 92% of downtown workers drive to work.

When will it be fixed and how much does it cost?

Knight warns that once the new systems are turned back on this fall, "there will be a period of time where we'll have to make some minor adjustments."

He added that his office is expected to have "worked through our fine-tuning issues" with re-timing the adaptive signals by the end of September.

The project runs the entirety of the 60-year-old superhighway and is part of the larger I-85 Corridor Management Project, which includes the 85-385 Gateway Project at Woodruff Road.

The traffic adaptive signals cost about $13,500 per intersection to license and install. Knight estimated that along with detection costs, each intersection will cost an average of $20,500 per intersection.

Thankfully, the signals that have to be fixed won't cost taxpayers a dime, "all of that is under warranty, so it's not costing the public any extra money," Knight said.

Warning: traffic ahead

Eventually, Jones said SCDOT plans to be able to tell U.S. 29 commuters how long travel time on the highway will be, much like the time estimates that across digital billboards on interstates.

"Our goal is to be able to tell the public, ‘Travel time to highway 29 is this,'" she said.

More adaptive systems are being placed along State 14, 101, 291 and 296 in Spartanburg and Greenville counties as part of the larger I-85 project, Knight said. In total, about 95 systems in the I-85 Corridor will utilize adaptive technology.

But patience and understanding are asked while the systems and other improvements are being installed, "DOT doesn't have the manpower that other states have," Jones said.