By SCOTT SMITH
Kokomo police and Howard County sheriff deputies will be able to make a red light turn green along U.S. 31, thanks to the new signal interrupters they’re about to receive.
The Kokomo Board of Public Works & Safety this week gave the go-ahead to purchase 50 of the devices, which will be mounted inside police and sheriff squad cars.
Three years ago, the Indiana Department of Transportation chose Kokomo for a pilot program and installed signal interrupters on every light along U.S. 31 in Howard County, from Ind. 26 to U.S. 35/County Road 450 North.
A signal interrupter allows emergency vehicles to interrupt the timing of a traffic signal so that only their lane has a green light.
The devices INDOT installed on the lights were only half of the system, however. The second half of the system — the emitters inside the squad cars — had to be purchased by local government.
City and county officials worked together to approve the purchase, using federal transportation funding, said Larry Ives, director of the Kokomo/Howard County Governmental Coordinating Council.
“What INDOT did was a signal modernization project. It’s part of the Intelligent Transportation Systems program, where they’re trying to use technology to improve traffic flow,” Ives said. “That’s what this will do for emergency vehicles.”
Ives, a former sheriff deputy, said the biggest benefit for officers will come during peak traffic hours, when often, all lanes of traffic along U.S. 31 — including turn lanes — are blocked with traffic.
Using infrared technology, the detectors can discern a message from a device attached to the light bar of the emergency vehicle and is activated when a paramedic or police officer hits their emergency lights.
The signal interrupter pre-empts the light to allow the emergency vehicle to go through.
The range is about 1,800 feet, said Kyle Mattingly, a representative of Carrier and Gable, which sells the Opticom system.
Once the light turns green, traffic will begin to move, hopefully clearing a path for the squad car.
“If all four lanes are red, it’s gridlock. Now when the light turns, traffic can move forward and get out of the way,” Ives said. “That’s probably going to be the biggest benefit of the system.”
Ives said only emergency vehicles running “Signal 10” — police code for rushing to a scene with lights and sirens on — will be allowed to use the emitters.
Each time an emitter triggers a signal interrupter, a computer will log the time, date and the specific emitter which triggered the light, he said.
Ives said $60,000 should cover the cost of purchasing 50 emitters. Twenty will be given to the city, 20 will be given to the sheriff department, two will go to city ambulances, and one will be given to the city’s traffic department. The remaining seven emitters will be distributed wherever the greatest need is perceived.
He said the emitters should arrive in about two weeks, and should be installed and in use within a month.
He said the emitters will trigger the light to change, but drivers going across an intersection ahead of an oncoming emergency vehicle won’t suddenly see their lights change from green to red.
Ives said those drivers should still see a full yellow cycle before the light turns red.
In addition to the police cars, the emitters may also be installed on city fire trucks which regularly make runs down U.S. 31. The station at Boulevard and U.S. 31 performs most of the fire runs to the south part of the city.
Scott Smith may be reached at (765) 454-8569 or via e-mail at scott.smith@kokomotribune.com
