Westwood : Traffic Control System Set

Work began last week on a $4.2-million computerized traffic control system for the heavily congested streets in and around Westwood.

Known as ATSAC, or Automated Traffic Surveillance and Control, the system is similar to one that has cut intersection delays by 20% and travel time by 13% in the Coliseum area, said S.E. Rowe, general manager of the city Transportation Department.

Using electronic sensors implanted in the pavement, ATSAC relays information about the flow of traffic to a control center in City Hall, where computers regulate the timing of traffic signals.

The system is financed by fees paid by developers whose projects contribute to traffic congestion.

The Westwood ATSAC area connects traffic signals in the area bounded by the San Diego Freeway on the west, Beverly Hills on the east, Olympic Boulevard on the south and Montana Avenue, Wilshire Boulevard and UCLA on the north.

“By next March, West Los Angeles will have the first installment of a truly space-age traffic control network,” City Councilman Zev Yaroslavsky said. “I look forward to better traffic conditions here and throughout the city with the implementation of ATSAC.”