By Mary O’KEEFE

At several meetings, including of the Glendale City Council and miscellaneous community meetings, the topic of traffic seems to always come up –specifically traffic lights.

CVW reached out via email to Glendale Public Works director Yazdan Emrani to get some clarification on what traffic lights, and traffic issues, were being addressed throughout the City.

“Development of traffic signal timing plans require various hardware and software components, communications equipment, data collection and system engineering to operate traffic signals efficiently and effectively,” stated Emrani. “The City of Glendale has built a robust and technologically advanced traffic signal system, including the respective equipment and infrastructure that allows for evaluation and optimization of traffic signal timing parameters by staff engineers. Public Works recently completed the development of a citywide traffic signal system timing model that includes 157 signalized intersections along major and minor arterial roadways within the City.”

There are many areas in the City that appear to garner a lot of traffic signal complaints, including near the Adventist Hospital/In-N-Out Burger area near the Holly Drive exit of the 134 Freeway and the nearby 134 Freeway entrance. CVW asked Emrani how the department prioritizes specific traffic areas for attention.

“The recently completed traffic signal system timing model allows Public Works engineers to optimize traffic signal timing parameters and traffic signal synchronization within the City of Glendale. We plan on implementing the optimized traffic signal timing in phases, based on areas of highest land-use density, traffic volumes and freeway access. Phase 1 of the program included optimization of traffic signal timing at 50 traffic signals in the downtown area, along Central Avenue, Brand Boulevard, Glendale Avenue, Broadway and Colorado Street, and was implemented earlier this year (2023),” he stated.

In this area, traffic can back up quickly as drivers wait to turn into the In-N-Out Burger parking lot and drive through, and can also back up with lanes of traffic attempting to get onto the eastbound 134 Freeway.

Public Works has received a request to evaluate traffic congestion at the Harvey Drive and Wilson Terrace intersection and evaluate impacts from the In-N-Out Burger drive-through.

“Staff coordinated with In-N-Out Burger management for internal drive-through circulation improvements to prevent impacts to the traffic signal operation. In-N-Out has completed the on-site improvements and Public Works staff is currently monitoring traffic signal operation at the intersection,” he stated.

Public Works did recently install a new traffic signal at the Chevy Chase Drive and Sinclair Avenue intersection to improve traffic safety at the intersection, which is located at the northwest end of Adventist Hospital.

In addition, “Public Works recently prepared a Local Roadway Safety Plan (LRSP) that reviewed citywide traffic safety challenges and developed proposed countermeasure projects that aim at improving traffic safety along streets that needed it the most,” he stated.

Public Works is presently working on implementing these projects with support from a grant from Caltrans and as part of the City’s five-year capital improvement program.

“We also manage the City’s Neighborhood Traffic Calming Program (NTCP) that provides a mechanism for working with the public to address speeding issues on residential and neighborhood streets with demonstrated patterns of speeding and cut-through traffic,” Emrani added.