Motorists on the north Belt Highway in St. Joseph should be seeing more green lights.

MoDOT has updated the timing of several traffic signals.

Officials with the Missouri Department of Transportation say the agency is working to help improve traffic flow along the Belt, and to incorporate new federal and state standard practices.

“Our goal is to help minimize stopping for a red light at each intersections as drivers travel the Belt Highway. If you come to a red light when going north or south, you should see green at the majority of the subsequent signals,” said MoDOT Senior Traffic Studies Specialist Joseph Turner.

The signals from County Line Road to Cook Road are now synchronized to minimize repeated stops at successive lights, Monday through Saturday, from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Sundays from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. During the other hours of the day, the signals operate independently and are triggered by a vehicle at the intersection.

“If something unusual is going on along or around the Belt Highway, obviously traffic patterns would be affected. We set the intervals and green times based on traffic patterns that appear to be the most frequent during a typical day, under normal conditions,” Turner said. “Also, the coordinated timing will not accommodate unusually fast or slow drivers, so the best advice is to drive the speed limit.”

Engineers will soon work on the signals from Gene Field Road to Sherman Road as part of this project. The signals further south on the Belt and on Frederick Avenue at the Belt and Interstate 29 will be studied in the future to determine if similar adjustments could be made at those intersections to improve traffic flow.