The city of Huntington is installing a new Led traffic signal system funded by a $4.2 million federal grant to improve the city’s air quality by helping the flow of traffic.

The resolution that authorized the mayor to sign an agreement to install new traffic signals was approved at the last council meeting, said Charles Holley, executive director of development and planning. The 57 new traffic lights will be between Third and Seventh Avenue and Fifth and Twenty-Ninth Street.

“The new system will be energy efficient, going along with the green trend. That’s where we want to go,” Holley said. “Instead of using incandescent bulbs, we’ll use LED bulbs. Also everything will be connected wirelessly.” 

The wires that connect the current signals have begun to rust and break underground, and none of them are connected to help the traffic flow, he said.

The city started looking at ways to improve the traffic signal system, but it would cost several million dollars to replace them, so they had to find a way to fund the project, Holley said.

 “We learned about this funding source called congestion mitigation air quality that the state of West Virginia gets millions of dollars from each year,” Holley said. “It is very hard to get the money because you have to have your science and show what your mitigating air quality issue is.”

Cabell County has very poor air quality, so it is one of the areas the state wants to target, he said.

“We hired a group of engineers that could do the calculations for us,” Holley said. “They showed that if we got all of the signals back and operating and traffic could travel smoothly, it would reduce the amount of energy used and increase in the air quality.”

The city submitted the calculations and information and were able to receive a $4.2 million grant to replace 57 out of the 110 intersections within the city, Holley said.

The city will replace the older traffic signals that were installed around 1970 during urban renewal, he said. The signals throughout town that have been installed recently are already on a LED wireless system.

Huntington is the first city in West Virginia to install a wireless system, and the state will use the city as a model to develop the rest of the traffic signal systems in the state, Holley said.

“If there is a breakdown in communication, that’s something we will be able to walk up and fix instead of digging up the street,” he said. “So we’re really excited about that.”

The money the city is saving is just a side benefit, Holley said.

“Right now we spend about $250,000 a year on operating the old system, he said. The LED system has the claim that it can save up to 90 percent of energy costs. So we’re looking at over $100,000 in saving each year.”

Two years ago the city installed the led light system in Wayne County and from what they can tell the claim is accurate, he said.

In addition to the traffic signals, every intersection has a street sign, Holley said. The new system will have internally illuminated street signs so people driving at night can easily navigate throughout town.

“It’s going to be really cool and really nice for the city,” he said.

There will be one new intersection on Veterans Memorial Boulevard and Tenth Street and all the other intersections will just be replacements, Holley said.

The new LED lights will last up to 10 years, which will also help the labor costs associated with maintaining the current system, Holley said.

Josh Cooley, 21-year-old Huntington resident that works at Little Caesar, said he thinks the new system will definitely help traffic congestion and be more energy efficient.

“I think the city is taking baby steps in the right direction towards going green, which is a good thing,” Cooley said.

The new system has a lot of benefits for the city but he thinks it will help give people a more positive spin on the city, Holley said.

“With a system that’s broken, and people have to stop at every intersection, it can make one angry,” Holley said. “So changing from a negative attitude to a positive attitude is huge for me. The energy consumption is also a nice benefit and a step towards going green, which I think we as a city and community need to start thinking about more.”