GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. — We all know the pain of being stuck in rush hour traffic, but what may even be worse is being stuck at a light when there's no other traffic around.
Channel 2's Tony Thomas talked to Gwinnett County officials Friday who hope to make that a thing of the past with a new cutting edge technology.
Thomas has learned that a system near Gwinnett Place Mall could be working within a few days.
This new system is designed to lessen the amount of time drivers have to wait at the traffic signals on side streets to get on Pleasant Hill Road, Steve Reynolds Boulevard and Satellite Boulevard.
The system uses radar mounted on traffic poles.
"It's very annoying as a matter of fact, because they hold too long," driver Joel Abram told Thomas.
Business leaders and county officials say traffic is the biggest complaint about the Gwinnett Place Mall area.
It's not just along the main roads, but also getting on them from side streets.
That could change though. Crews have been installing a new system that they hope will ease the pain of drivers like Marvel Clarke.
"Sometimes it takes forever," Clarke said.
Engineers say the new system is cutting edge. It's based on a radar system, not wires buried in the pavement.
It's also not aimed to change rush hour traffic, but off peak times and during emergencies.
"We are installing five locations of radar detections which will count cars and also let us know which direction the cars are moving," said Roger Jacquette with Wolverton and Associates.
"It will make it more responsive to what is actually occurring on the ground," said Joe Allen of the Gwinnett Place CID.
Crews are fine tuning the system right now and plan to put the system in operation Memorial Day weekend. Potential relief for flustered drivers.
"I hope to see a change," Clarke said.
County traffic engineers said they are already considering putting this same system in other spots around Gwinnett County.
New technology uses radar to change traffic lights
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