The Berrien County Road Department is planning to upgrade traffic signals throughout its service area.
The department says it operates a total of 14 signals that will be improved with funding from the Congested Mitigation Air Quality Program, which is federal.
The approved project includes upgrading signal heads, cameras, modems, and controllers at all 14 locations. That includes the traffic signal in front of the Cook nuclear power plant that often leaves drivers just sitting there on Red Arrow Highway not moving for no reason other than the light is red.
The Cook plant signal will be replaced in 2026, but all other locations will be replaced this year. They’re located around Benton, Chikaming, Lake, Lincoln, St Joseph, and Sodus Townships.
The road department says replacing the signals will reduce unnecessary down time due to old and aging infrastructure. It will also enable remote monitoring to aid in the review of malfunctioning signals or dark signals following power outages.
When the replacement work is going on, drivers may notice shoulder or lane closures.
