FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                  January 31, 2007

CITY CREWS  RESPOND TO SCORES OF TRAFFIC SIGNAL PROBLEMS

             City workers from the Traffic Signals and Technology Division of the Department of Transportation Services have responded to more than 80 intersections where traffic signals were damaged by high winds or falling debris, or had to be restarted because of power outages over the past three days.

            “We’ve had people working around the clock to handle a steady stream of wind damage, to traffic signals and we’ve stayed on top of it,” said Ty Fukumitsu, Traffic Signals and Technology administrator. “Numerous wind-related power outages have occurred. As soon as power is restored, the signal maintenance crew is dispatched there to reset the signals, if the signals do not start up.”

            However, that can take a while. Traffic signals were restored to service and resynchronized this morning after outages in Kailua and Hawaii Kai.  In Waimanalo, a tree fell across utility lines, leaving a set of nearby traffic signals without power for most of the early morning.           

-30-

Contact:

            Richard Torres, Deputy Director of Transportation Services, 768-8304

            Ty Fukumitsu, Traffic Signals and Technology administrator, 768-8388