Automated Airport Traffic Signals Unveiled : Congestion: The $3-million system surrounding Los Angeles International will be completed next January.

Standing at an intersection notorious for clogged traffic, Mayor Tom Bradley and Councilwoman Ruth Galanter unveiled a high-tech system Monday designed to ease congestion on the streets surrounding Los Angeles International Airport.

Construction of the Airport Automated Traffic Surveillance and Control System began in March and is expected to be completed next January at a cost of $3 million, Galanter said.

ATSAC works through a system of sensors in the pavement that transmit information about traffic conditions to a control center four floors below City Hall East, where the timing of traffic signals is adjusted to facilitate the flow of traffic.

The sensors also transmit information about unexpected traffic problems so traffic officers, police or firefighters can be quickly sent to the scene.

Federal transportation dollars will pay for half of the cost of the project at the airport and the balance will be provided by the Coastal Transportation Corridor Specific Plan Trust Fund, which derives its money from fees charged to developers based on the size of their project.

“The overwhelming traffic control around the airport has always been of particular concern to those going to the airport and to residents in the general vicinity,” Bradley said at a news conference at the corner of Westchester and Lincoln boulevards.

“ATSAC is easy to implement and is less expensive than widening the street or constructing a new freeway,” he said.

The traffic system is being installed in an area bounded by Manchester on the north, Imperial Highway on the south, Centinela Avenue and La Cienega Boulevard on the east and the Pacific Ocean on the west.

The project involves upgrading 114 traffic signals at intersections and one mid-block signal. It also involves the installation of 384 vehicle detectors in the pavement and 72,300 feet of electric cable.

Installation of the system in the airport area is part of an expansion of a program that is already in operation downtown and under construction in Westwood, the San Fernando Valley and Hollywood.