BATON ROUGE - As gas prices rise at an unprecedented rate, time is money, and sitting in heavy traffic is not ideal for drivers. The MOVEBR light synchronization project aims to alleviate that issue by connecting 470 signals to a central management system.

“I believe that we can finally get to a point where we can truly be called synchronization, connectivity and the most important part to a driver is reliability and consistency," said Fred Raiford at a MOVEBR meeting Wednesday.

Among the objectives, updating technology within the signals is paramount. Traffic signal controllers, conflict monitors and school zone flashers were outdated, some up to 40 years old.

“Controllers were old, the detectors were old, conflict monitors were old, the school flashers some of them were 40 years old," acting chief traffic engineer Cyndi Pennington said.

New lights will also be equipped with technology that allows EMS and firefighters to change the signals from within their units, allowing them to pass through busy intersections more safely and cutting down response times to accidents. 

The city says the light synchronization project is expected to wrap up by the end of 2023.