U.S. Funds to Help Improve Traffic Flow

Assemblyman Richard Katz (D-Sylmar) said he has secured nearly $1 million in federal funds to help pay for a traffic monitoring system designed to ease congestion on San Fernando Valley streets.

Katz said a $940,000 grant from the Petroleum Violation Escrow Account, a fund paid for by petroleum companies that have overcharged customers, will go toward installing the system along Victory and Ventura boulevards.

The system, known as Automated Traffic Surveillance and Control or ATSAC, uses closed-circuit TV cameras and pavement sensors to monitor streets and synchronize signals to improve the flow of traffic.

The $31.6-million system, which is being built in phases over the next 10 years, will ultimately be installed at 4,000 intersections citywide. In the Valley, the system will operate at 400 intersections between Victory and Ventura boulevards, stretching from Calabasas to Burbank.

“Anyone who has ever tried to get across the Valley, especially at rush hour, knows what a nightmare traffic can be,” Katz said. “The sooner the lights along these two major surface routes are synchronized, the sooner we spell relief for hundreds of thousands of people.”

ATSAC made its Los Angeles debut on the streets around the Los Angeles Coliseum before the 1984 Summer Olympics. Studies have shown the system moves motorists along 12% faster.