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Chattanooga: Firetrucks closer to ability to change traffic lights to green

By: Jacqueline Koch
(Contact)

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Randy Parker

Since last July, the Chattanooga Fire Department has waited for the green light to activate equipment that will allow firefighters to change traffic signals from their trucks.

Several intersections — including some on Highway 153 — already have emitters and receptors that allow firefighters to do just that.

But crews soon will have the ability to pre-empt signals at more traffic lights after a meeting with city traffic engineering employees this week, city Traffic Engineer John Van Winkle said.

“We can do some testing with them to make sure they’re working properly and that the pre-emption timing plan is suitable for (the fire department’s) needs,” he said.

The fire department has a list of more than 50 intersections at which it potentially could use the emitters, but Deputy Chief Randy Parker will meet with officials to determine which are feasible. The emitters, purchased last summer, have been installed on trucks during the past couple of months.

As a truck approaches an intersection, its emitter sends out a signal to a receiver on a traffic light that stops automatic signal operation and changes the light to green in the direction the truck is headed, Mr. Van Winkle said.

Each receptor — and its cables, module and detection unit — costs the city roughly $3,500, while each emitter costs $1,000 to $1,500, officials said.

Traffic lights were purchased with the equipment to provide more safety for drivers and firefighters, Mr. Van Winkle said.

“If it’s green, they have less risk of being hit from a cross street,” he said. “It’s for the safety of crews and to get to scenes as quickly as possible.”

The first light-activated emitter was installed about 10 years ago on Amnicola Highway in front of the Police Services Center, Chief Parker said.

Department officials wanted emitters activated on Shallowford Road near the Walgreens pharmacy, but they realized too many stoplights too close together would cause congestion, Chief Parker said. “The problem is you have to allow for time to react,” he said about Shallowford Road. “You have to allow time for people to get out of the way, and there was nowhere for the cars to go.”

Some intersections in the city — such as the one at Willow Street and Bailey Avenue — are equipped with siren activators, which have been in place for years but do not always work effectively because of traffic noise, Chief Parker said.

“A backhoe running next to it or a loud muffler interferes with the siren noise,” he said.

The department will evaluate the emitters and receptors after they’ve had time to be used, he said.

“We’re going to look at it in about six months out,” he said. “It’s hard to tell on just a couple of weeks worth of information.”

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