The Moreno Administration announced on May 21 the launch of a citywide plan to assess, repair, and modernize New Orleans’ aging traffic signal infrastructure. The initiative aims to improve public safety, reduce outages, and enhance traffic flow across the city.
City officials said that the Department of Public Works (DPW) manages more than 400 traffic signals throughout New Orleans. Over 190 of these are located on state routes, but DPW is responsible for annual inspections and maintenance. Many of the city’s signals and their components are reported to be at or beyond their useful life, leading to issues such as shorting out or reverting to “flash” mode during or after rain events due to water intrusion.
Phase 1 of the plan begins immediately with a five-to-seven-week assessment focusing on intersections most susceptible to water intrusion and recurring flash operations. This review is expected to identify between 25 and 40 intersections that may require further repairs or replacement work. Following this assessment, DPW will develop a detailed repair and replacement strategy within two to four weeks, including cost estimates and recommended scopes of work. Repairs could involve replacing damaged wiring, repairing collapsed conduit lines, or upgrading signal cabling.
Mayor Helena Moreno said, “We are continuing to work with urgency to make significant improvements to longstanding problems. Reliable traffic signals are essential to public safety, emergency response, and the daily movement of residents, workers, and visitors. This plan moves us from a reactive system to a proactive one identifying problem areas, making repairs, modernizing equipment, and using data to make smarter decisions.”
As part of Phase 1 efforts include deploying new traffic signals in key corridors identified by the City’s Safety Action Plan as well as improving hardware for pedestrian access and transit priority treatments. The department will also coordinate with local police departments and emergency response partners in high-crash locations.
Steve Nelson Deputy CAO of Infrastructure said: “At DPW we are committed to do things differently to ensure better outcomes. This is a practical, safety-driven plan to fix what is broken, modernize what is outdated, and make sure New Orleans has a traffic signal system that works better for everyone.”
Looking ahead at Phase 2 in 2027,the administration plans funding requests for remote-accessible controllers along with upgraded hardware while reviewing if all current intersections need active signals or can be converted into signage where appropriate.