Signal delay leaves Port waiting for gridlock relief

The new traffic lights on Port Washington’s far north side, installed in the hope of alleviating some of the gridlock created by an influx of traffic heading to and from the Vantage Data Centers Lighthouse Campus, won’t be working until the middle of next week.

City Engineer Roger Strohm said Tuesday that although the traffic lights were expected to be working this week, an unexpected issue in coordinating the new lights with the existing ones has caused the delay.

“The lights are all strung,” he told the Board of Public Works. “Everything’s all powered. But the new lights are having  trouble talking to the old lights.”

That’s important, Strohm said, because if traffic is backing up in one direction, the lights need to coordinate their signals to handle the flow of vehicles.

“We’re working to get this resolved,” he said.

The new lights, which are intended to be temporary while the data center is being constructed, hang over highways 32 and H at the I-43 interchange and near the Highway LL intersection.

The problem is caused by the fact that the existing lights are old and don’t have the same technology as the newer lights, Strohm said.

The city has plans to upgrade the existing signals, he said, but that won’t happen for some time.