IDOT District 1 owns and maintains thousands of traffic signals in the six counties around Chicago, IL. Approximately 3,000 of these signals are in coordinated corridors and are remotely accessible with specialized software.

Gewalt Hamilton Associates (GHA) was selected by IDOT District 1 with multi-year contracts totaling $2.35 Million dollars since 2012. As part of these contracts, GHA monitors all signals weekly, checking for programming changes and maintenance issues with the traffic signal and vehicle detectors. GHA sends a weekly report to IDOT, its electrical maintenance contractor, and most signal contractors in the area. This allows IDOT and its maintenance contractor to quickly respond to and repair maintenance issues. It also allows IDOT to track issues with traffic signals that are currently under construction and being maintained by an electrical contractor.

GHA assists electrical contractors with repairing traffic signal issues. The contractor can call GHA staff at any time to remotely check if their repairs were successful, and to provide advice.

In addition to signal monitoring, GHA also assists IDOT in responding to citizen complaints about traffic signals. GHA staff will observe signal operations in person and adjust the traffic signal’s programming to make traffic flow more efficiently. These changes may be required due to construction in the area, changing traffic patterns, new businesses, or simply natural growth in traffic volumes.