A Message from the Mayor-President

Getting Baton Rouge Traffic in Sync

Mayor-President Sharon Weston Broome

At a time when traffic was lighter than normal during the COVID-19 crisis, we began implementing traffic signal upgrades and laying fiber optic cable, a group of projects that will make Baton Rouge one of the world’s leading cities for traffic management technology.

An important part of MOVEBR is a traffic management system that will give us 100% connectivity with our traffic signals, allowing us to adjust traffic flow at any time from our Advanced Traffic Management Center. In this Digital Age, very few cities in the U.S. have fully connected traffic signal systems – I’m proud to say Baton Rouge is leading the way.

The MOVEBR signal projects include equipment upgrades, software improvements and fiber optic cable that will connect 470 traffic signals throughout East Baton Rouge Parish, doubling the amount of cable connecting those signals to 176 miles.

We are also building an emergency grid by equipping 200 signals in key corridors with emergency power supplies that keep them operating for up to four hours if signals lose power during storm events or other incidents.

Along with the MOVEBR signal upgrades, our office is simultaneously equipping all 470 signals with new technology that allows emergency responders to pre-empt traffic signals, turning them green in advance of their approach, allowing the emergency responders to reach destinations quicker. This will not only reduce response time; it will also prevent accidents by clearing traffic ahead of emergency vehicles.

The traffic signal improvements will mean less congestion, reduced travel times, faster emergency response, fewer traffic accidents, reduced emissions and gasoline usage, and better planning for large-scale events.

Depending on circumstances, the signal upgrades can reduce travel time by 10-50% and accidents by 30-50%. With the signal projects underway, the MOVEBR program has estimated all aspects will be fully implemented within 2-3 years.

We’re getting in sync…and we’re getting East Baton Rouge Parish moving.