On a one-mile stretch of Florin Road in South Sacramento, the city is getting ready to swap out old-school stoplights for radar-backed "smart" signals in a bid to slow down red-light runners. The high-tech upgrades will roll out alongside new bike-lane, crosswalk and sidewalk improvements between 24th Street and Munson Way, all under the Florin Road Vision Zero banner that targets one of Sacramento's most dangerous corridors.
According to CBS Sacramento, the city is putting more than $5 million into installing "advanced dilemma zone detectors," radar devices that tweak stoplight timing when they sense drivers coming in too fast. The station spoke with Damien Phillips, who works near 24th and Florin and said he sees close calls "nearly every day." CBS Sacramento also quoted Don Leavitt of Wavetronix, who said the sensors can keep a light green when they detect a vehicle that does not have time to stop safely.
How the detectors work
Per Wavetronix, the system focuses on the "dilemma zone" at intersections, the spot where a yellow light forces drivers into a split-second choice between braking hard or speeding up. Using radar to read both vehicle presence and speed, the detectors feed data to the signal controller, which can adjust light timing to cut down on rear-end and side-impact crashes. The company also notes that the devices are installed above ground rather than in pavement and are designed to work in all weather conditions.
Project scope and funding
According to the City of Sacramento, the Florin Road Vision Zero Safety Project covers the one-mile span between 24th Street and Munson Way and carries an estimated price tag of about $5.6 million. City documents state that most of the work will use federal Regional Surface Transportation Program dollars, along with roughly $500,000 in regional money for preliminary engineering. The construction package includes upgraded signal equipment plus bicycle and pedestrian changes that are intended to bring speeds down and shorten crossing distances.
Crash history that prompted the upgrades
A run of deadly incidents pushed the corridor onto the city's high-injury list. The Sacramento Bee reported that a March 28 hit-and-run on Florin Road killed a woman, and city planning documents show the same stretch has a track record of fatal or severe collisions that fall heavily on people walking and biking. Workers and residents in the area told reporters they regularly see risky moves at the lights, the kind of behavior city officials say the new mix of engineering changes and radar detection is intended to curb.
What comes next
CBS Sacramento reports that the Sacramento City Council is set to consider signing off on additional money for the Florin Road work next Tuesday. The city's project page still lists construction as starting in Spring 2025, which signals a phased rollout as funding and contracts line up. If the council approves the next round, crews are expected to stage the signal upgrades and detector installations in tandem with the bikeway and sidewalk improvements.
City officials say the combination of smarter signals and traditional street redesign is aimed at giving people walking and biking safer crossings while cutting down on split-second yellow-light decisions that can turn into serious crashes. Residents along Florin Road have told reporters they are cautiously hopeful that the new technology will finally tame a notorious stretch of pavement.
