Money woes may delay upgrades to traffic system

ROCKVILLE, Md. - During last week's snafu that tangled commutes from Burtonsville to Bethesda, some commuters felt as if they were being tortured by traffic lights that refused to change.

One listener called WTOP to say she sat at a red light for a full 19 minutes.

Montgomery County Council President Phil Andrews says he felt the frustration, too.

"Prior to this, people would ask me why don't you time the traffic lights, and my response was, 'We do!' and you can see what happens when they're not," Andrews says.

But thanks to a "breakthrough" after the breakdown of the 800-traffic light system, commutes are back to normal.

So can commuters assume they won't see the problem again?

Apparently not.

At last week's news conference, Chief Traffic Engineer Emil Wolanin told reporters that upgrading the traffic system is not like going out and getting a new computer. It's a complicated system with a lot of moving parts.

And it's already undergoing an overhaul.

Problem is, that's not coming along fast enough as far as almost everyone - including Wolanin - would like.

Andrews says he'd like to accelerate the process.

"It is funded in the capital budget. It's in the planning stages right now. The county has also made some manual repairs so that if this were to happen again, it would not have the same impact," Andrews says.

The state is kicking in $12 million for the $35 million, six-year project, but the funding is problematic. Maryland State Highway officials told WTOP last week the formula is still being worked out.

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