Finance Friday – A Smoother Road to Traffic Operations

Published on August 04, 2023

The Department of Public Works trimmed its budget for fiscal year 2024 by more than $850,000. A large portion of the savings will come from the elimination of nine vacant positions across the department, including some maintenance crews. Neighbors may notice more grassy overgrowth in public spaces as a result.

What does that have to do with traffic operations?

Public Works also installs and maintains the signs and markings that keep cars, bikes and pedestrians moving safely across streets and through intersections. When there’s a problem, Public Works makes the repairs.

But the actual programming and monitoring of those traffic control devices falls to the Traffic Operations Division. It’s part of the City’s Transportation Department, which also is home to the Regional Transit System, Vision Zero and other services.

So fixing a traffic control device in the public right of way often brings in both departments.

Combining them is an opportunity to increase efficiency while reducing costs in the budget.

For that reason, the Traffic Operations Division will move to Public Works in fiscal year 2024. It allows the City to eliminate a director’s position by combining elements of the two departments. Traffic Operations meshes well with the other Public Works divisions, and neighbors may see faster turnaround on requests to check the status of signals and signs in those grassy rights of way.