With signal costs rising, traffic safety comes at a price

Time.

When we think about red lights — traffic signals, in more appropriate vernacular — we think about time only in the short term.

"Gosh, that signal takes two minutes to change. That’s a long, long time."

We seldom think of traffic signals in the long term, but that is certainly appropriate when we think about their construction. It takes considerable time, sometimes a couple years or more, from the birth of a traffic signal idea until it begins controlling traffic at one of the neighborhood’s busy intersections.

The rush to meet the needs of county residents collides with supply chain shortages, huge increases in the price of construction materials and research that often can take a substantial effort to evaluate.

The price tag for a single intersection can be almost $1 million or soar above the $2 million mark. How, for goodness’ sake, can basically the cost of these mechanical lights run into millions?

Ogden Clark, the strategic affairs manager of the Manatee County Public Works Department, agreed to discuss the cost of building traffic signals for an intersection in the Lakewood Ranch area, along with why costs of such a project have soared.

Clark loosely outlined the steps to constructing an intersection’s worth of traffic signals with some estimated costs. It should be kept in mind that this is a hypothetical intersection and that the price estimates are meant only to give residents an idea of the costs faced by the Public Works Department.

In reality, every intersection has its unique challenges, based on volume of traffic, homes near the intersection, businesses or schools in the area, pedestrian traffic, and light or heavy industrial uses for the roads involved.

Let’s start with a hypothetical intersection in a mostly residential area with a few businesses to cater to the residents and a school a few blocks away.

It all starts with the idea that traffic signals are needed.

Step 1

Clark said he often hears complaints about the time it takes for a traffic signal project to materialize. One reason is that it starts with a lengthy process that involves data collection and analysis of several data sets, including traffic counts, turn movement counts, pedestrian traffic counts and a review of accident report histories. That all must be done before the project is sent to the Manatee County commissioners. If the county shares an intersection with the state, such as on State Road 64 or 70, the Florida Department of Transportation must be included. Clark said the average time to perform the analysis for a project in Manatee County is three to six months.

Much of the cost of such an analysis isn’t figured into the traffic signal’s budget because Manatee County employees often do part of the research work themselves. It is part of the job and therefore lands in the county’s operating budget.

Step 2

Once the analysis is completed, a construction budget is planned and adopted. If approved by the Manatee County Commission, the source of funding must be identified. Then the project goes into the design phase. Clark said the typical design process takes an additional six to nine months. Three plan versions are reviewed at 30%, 60% and 90-100%. Reviews include evaluations of roadway standards, signalization details, utility relocations, stormwater needs and land needs. Depending on the site, the project could be subject to delays caused by the number of lanes required, the location of pedestrian crossings, turn lane lengths, utilities being relocated, placement of fiber connections, land acquisition needs and coordination with FDOT. The survey and design phase (not counting the work done by Manatee County employees that is considered part of the operating budget) can cost approximately $150,000.

A 20% to 30% contingency rise in prices is built in since the projects could take a couple years to build.

“It is a good practice in the industry,” Clark said. “Is it enough?”

During the pandemic, the cost of some materials doubled. Even without a pandemic, the project sometimes can be delayed six to nine months if the acquisition of land doesn’t go smoothly. Material delays can lead to price increases.

Step 3

Property acquisition on its own can vary from project to project. Clark said it sometimes can be an easy process when those who own the corners at an intersection are looking forward to the improvements. On White Eagle Boulevard, almost no land acquisition was needed for the traffic signal intersection projects at 44th Avenue and Malachite Drive. In other projects, the owners do, indeed, know a strip of land might be necessary to complete the signal light work. The White Eagle Boulevard projects had zero budget for land acquisition. An upcoming project on Lorraine Road lists $100,000 for land acquisition.

Clark said in other projects, land acquisition can run as much as $250,000 per corner or more.

Step 4

Clark said the project is advertised to possible builders for a set period of 30 days or another specified period. Bids are collected, often based on the job being completed in either 180 days or 270 days, but bigger projects obviously accept bids for much longer lengths of time. The bids are collected and reviewed by the staff and engineers. The review process usually takes about a week and, once again, costs are absorbed by the county’s operating budget.

Step 5

Time to go to construction. Some basic estimates include $600,000-$700,000 for physical traffic signal components such as mast arms, span wires and the actual lights themselves. The cost includes installation. Fiber extension to connect the lights, sensors and cameras to the county’s network, along with all the hardware, and the ground work needed to install it, can run $500,000 or more, depending on the scope of the system. Actual road construction to alter lane alignments or add turn lanes can cost $300,000-$500,000 per leg of the intersection (this amount includes the price of purchasing land).

“These are some of the reasons why traffic signals can lead quickly to a standard project cost of $2 million to $2.5 million and take nearly two and a half years from design to activation,” Clark said.