Your City At Work

December 6, 2023

Signal Timing Improvements on Cerrillos Road Boost Safety

The City of Santa Fe Public Works Traffic Operations team has implemented new signal timing on Cerrillos Road from St. Michael's Drive to the W. Frontage Road/Beckner Road intersection.


The project took about a week to complete, and the changes will help increase pedestrian safety, reduce the number of traffic stops, and improve travel time through that section of roadway!

All signals have received a best-practice pedestrian safety improvement called Leading Pedestrian Intervals (LPIs) for pedestrians crossing Cerrillos. The LPIs give pedestrians a 5-second head start to begin crossing, which increases visibility and vehicle yielding.

Automatic pedestrian countdowns are also now displayed on cross streets so pedestrians walking along Cerrillos Road will not have to push a button to have the signal provide them with adequate time to cross.

The timing improvements are designed to give drivers more green lights through the corridor, particularly in times of low traffic. Some intersections were also upgraded with a flashing yellow turn arrow for left-turn movements, which increases vehicle yielding and left turn safety.

Engineers from Advanced Traffic Solutions assisted City signal technicians with this project.

An optimization study was conducted to determine the initial changes needed, and during the deployment week, the team reviewed and adjusted the initial adjustments to ensure the desired outcomes were met. Work was conducted at night and the signals were set to flash-only mode while changes were being made.


(Pictured: a City staff member works to repair a signal affected by lightning in summer 2023).

These improvements are all part of the City's efforts to implement the Multimodal Transition Plan, which passed in 2022 and outlines strategies to increase access to the city via public transit, walking, bicycling, and parking management in order to reach equity, environmental, social, and health goals.

Please join us in saying thank you to the team for their hard work and late hours to complete this important project! 

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