Last of four traffic corridor timing plans to be implemented in Harrisonburg

New timing plans for Harrisonburg’s South Main Street and Port Republic Road traffic corridors will be implemented beginning Monday as the city’s Public Works Department seeks to improve travel time and traffic flow on these two busy corridors.

The new timing plans are part of the city’s Traffic Signal Coordination and Optimization project, which is being developed through the Highway Safety Improvement Program grant the city was awarded by VDOT.

“The implementation of these final two plans will improve the overall coordination of the traffic signals along the four corridors so that the level of service increases, and travel time and delay decrease,” Harrisonburg Director of Public Works Tom Hartman said.

The South Main Street corridor runs from Mosby Road to Martin Luther King Jr. Way and includes the traffic signal timing of eight intersections. The Port Republic Road corridor stretches from South Main to the Neff Avenue/Peach Grove Road intersection and includes seven intersections. South Main and Port Republic are the third and fourth, of four, corridors receiving new timing plans. East Market Street was the first, and High Street the second.

To experience the full benefit of the new timing plans, drivers will need to travel at the posted speed limit in order to smoothly flow through the lights at peak times. Public Works staff, along with a consultant from Kimley-Horn, will be on South Main and Port Republic monitoring the changes and making real time adjustments as needed throughout the week.

Use caution while driving through this corridor as staff will be out working at the intersections making adjustments as needed and as drivers become accustom to the new traffic patterns.