Agoura Hills to Put Traffic Signals in Sync

Agoura Hills will become the first of 85 cities to benefit from a Los Angeles County program to improve traffic flow by synchronizing signals on major roads.

The Agoura Hills City Council Wednesday night approved participation in the program, which will synchronize seven traffic signals along a 1.6-mile strip of Kanan Road, the busiest street in Agoura Hills, City Manager David Carmany said.

County workers will soon begin synchronizing the lights on Kanan between Fountainwood Street and Agoura Road, Carmany said. The project should be finished within two weeks, he said.

Agoura Hills and the county will split the $114,000 cost, said Rosa Kortizija, assistant deputy to Los Angeles County Supervisor Mike Antonovich, who initiated the program.

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on March 22 approved the $15-million, 5-year program to synchronize 1,026 traffic lights in all cities in the county. The county will share the costs.

Agoura Hills will be the first beneficiary because it has only a few traffic lights in need of synchronization and the city is ready with its share of the funds, Koritzija said.

Motorists traveling at posted speed limits will have to stop at fewer traffic signals on synchronized streets, officials said. Reducing the number of starts and stops should save fuel and reduce smog, officials said.

Other San Fernando Valley cities that expect to benefit from the program are Santa Clarita and San Fernando.