MOUNT POCONO -- Upgrades to traffic signals could be coming to your hometown under PennDOT's "Green Light-Go" program.
Governor Tom Wolf's office announced the money for the traffic signals Monday.
A flashing white light on the top of ambulances helps EMS workers get through traffic lights quickly when they are responding to an emergency. It's called an optical preemption.
"It ensures all that all the lights turn red in every direction so we can move quicker through the light," said Denise Doremus, Pocono Mountain Regional EMS operations manager.
You can find the light sensors at many traffic lights throughout Monroe County. A new one will soon be installed on the light at Oak Street and Route 940 in Mount Pocono. EMS officials tell us this light is actually the only one along this stretch of Route 940 that doesn't have the emergency trip, so they are happy to see that it will finally be added.
"That is the one where you have to wait and you have three lanes of traffic, so you have to go all the way to the right. People get confused and go to the left, so it will make it a lot easier,” Doremus said.
The nearly $42,000 in funding will also provide new led lights and battery backups to traffic signals.
Melvin Scott of Tobyhanna thinks the upgrades will benefit not only EMS workers but drivers in general.
"If people have to pull over, it makes things more difficult. This will avoid accidents that way, and I think it's something people will have no problem with. They hopefully will think it’s safer for them also and their families," Scott said.
PennDOT tells us the safety upgrades were made possible by traffic ticket funds from the red light enforcement program in Philadelphia.
There is no word on when work here in Monroe County will begin, but both EMS and drivers hope to see it start soon.
