City Announces Benefits from Completion of Green Light Lincoln Project

Mayor Leirion Gaylor Baird and Lincoln Transportation and Utilities officials announced in September that the City’s completion of the fourth phase of Green Light Lincoln (lincoln.ne.gov) initiative has resulted in a wide range of transportation, economic, and environmental improvements. The $6.8 million project updated the traffic system with high-tech equipment, remote access for increased efficiency, flashing yellow lights for increased traffic flow, and improved signal timings in conjunction with increased installation of roundabouts.

  • An annual reduction of 1.2 million hours of time spent in vehicles
  • More than 68 million fewer vehicle stops annually
  • An annual 121,700kg reduction of greenhouse gas emissions
  • An annual savings of $23.7 million in fuel costs for drivers since the program began in 2016

“Since Green Light Lincoln began, LTU has updated 90% of its traffic lights and offers more efficient driving across the city,” said Liz Elliott, director of Lincoln Transportation and Utilities. “Green Light Lincoln has resulted in enough fuel savings to drive a car around the earth 1,337 times per year.”

Green Light Lincoln included four phases of updates focused on major and minor corridors, the Downtown Central Business District, isolated signals, and smaller corridors around Lincoln. Savings are based on reductions in delays, fuel, and local demographic information. Benefits are calculated for five years based on the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) recommendation for traffic signal retiming.

For more information on Green Light Lincoln, contact Dan Carpenter, LTU Traffic Engineering, at (402) 441-7711 / dcarpenter@lincoln.ne.gov or visit lincoln.ne.gov (search: green light Lincoln).