SHELBY COUNTY, TN
Neel-Schaffer helps Shelby County meet major deadline, preserving important funding
Shelby County faced a looming deadline – millions of dollars in unused Congestion Mitigation Air Quality Improvement (CMAQ) Program funds would be lost if the intended projects weren’t ready for construction in eight months. To help meet the deadline, Shelby County brought in Neel-Schaffer to assist with design of two of the major signal system projects. The improvements consisted of installation of fiber optic interconnect along Third Avenue, Austin Peay Highway, and Stage Road, a total of 11 miles of arterials encompassing 22 traffic signals.
To accommodate the fiber system installation and planned coordination, many of the antiquated traffic signal installations required major upgrades. The majority of the controller cabinets were replaced, detection was upgraded to video detection, and emergency vehicle preemption capabilities were added to all signals. In order to provide accurate data to the traffic management system regarding traffic volumes and speeds, the project also included installation of a number of radar-based system detection stations and Bluetooth-based travel time analysis units.
The project also included connection of the fiber optic system to the City of Memphis’ Signal Shop to provide a direct terminal connection to the City’s expanding signal system.
Ultimately, through the efforts of Neel-Schaffer, working closely with the County’s program manager, the deadline for these projects was met, allowing the County to preserve the funding and move forward with the much needed transportation system improvements.
