County OKs $200 million contract for traffic technology
Written by Richard Battin on October 29, 2024
Improving traffic flow and reducing congestion are two key goals of an almost $200 million resolution for an advanced traffic management system that county commissioners approved last week.
What the county's website calls "state-of-the-art" technology, the system is to upgrade traffic management software, replacing 3,000 outdated controllers with modern, intelligent hardware.
Upgraded software will be "capable of detecting vehicles, bicycles, and pedestrians, modifying traffic signal patterns in real time to adapt to the current road conditions," states a report to the commission from the mayor's office.
Commissioners passed the $199,919,376 resolution 10-1 last week.
"This initiative is about giving people back valuable time," co-sponsor Commissioner Kevin Marino Cabrera said in a release, "whether it's spending more time with family and friends or helping businesses run more smoothly."
The resolution, upgrading 500 intersections a year over the 10-year term, awards the contract to Horsepower Electric Inc., the "second lowest responsive and responsible bidder," according to the report.
The contract was approved initially in March 2021 with Munich, Germany-based Yunex Traffic. The county officially terminated the agreement in September 2023 due to "missed deadlines and performance issues."
The contract comes home, moving some 5,000 miles from Germany to 8105 W 20th Ave., Hialeah, headquarters of Horsepower Electric. The mayor's report states that about 90% of the company's 95 employees are residents of Miami-Dade County.
The contract's 10-year term is based on "the real time needed to engineer and design the system ... install and test the ... equipment, and ... the work necessary for including additional vehicle and pedestrian detection systems," the report states.
It calls for modernizing a minimum of 500 intersections annually "with high-tech controllers and software ... expected to significantly uplift the travel experience around Miami-Dade."
In a release to her constituents, Commissioner Danielle Cohen Higgins pointed out that the contract also requires "all traffic lights, countywide, to be fully synchronized within five years."
The county has about 1,874 intersections using McCain D170E controllers. They've been around for years and are known for "ruggedness and reliability," according to the manufacturer's website, but will all be replaced with the Econolite 2070LX controller, which was introduced In 2020 and offers "advanced features and improved performance."
The report to commissioners describes the 2070LX as a "rugged, multi-tasking field processor and communications system configurable for a variety of traffic management applications." Current 2070LX controllers already being used in the county will be upgraded from the 1C controller module to the advanced 1C+.
Several traffic system companies have been used in Miami-Dade as the number of cars on the road has increased. Going back almost half a century, a report to commissioners states, "in 1976, the county began utilizing the Urban Traffic Control System (UTCS)." In 2005, the commission approved a contract with Kimley Horn and Associates to utilize their ATMS software, replacing the UTCS.
