Traffic signals along Highway 378 (Sunset Boulevard)  between the Town of Lexington and the City of West Columbia, will soon be updated to help improve emergency response times for patients requiring hospital care.

“We are proud to be a partner in this project with the Town of Lexington, SCDOT, Lexington County, and Lexington Medical Center to increase the flows of traffic on Sunset Boulevard from the City of West Columbia towards Lexington. This project will facilitate EMS Services in reaching emergency care at Lexington Medical Center,” said City of West Columbia Mayor Bobby Horton.

The $2 million project, which is being funded by Lexington Medical Center, is aimed to improve traffic signals along Highway 378 from Lott Court to Hummingbird Drive. The upgrade includes the installation of traffic detection cameras, Bluetooth travel time monitoring devices and pre-emption control devices, which monitor real-time traffic flow patterns and adjust traffic signal timing for maximum efficiency.

“The traffic signal improvements along Highway 378 are a testament to what happens when government and business work together for the betterment of the people,” Lexington County Council Chairman Scott Whetstone said. “This is a product of a great intergovernmental partnership, and we are grateful for all of the hard work that was put into this project.”

“This system has helped place the Town of Lexington at the forefront of traffic management in South Carolina through the latest, innovative computer technology, as the high tech traffic management system monitors and synchronizes traffic signals to balance traffic flow in ‘real time’ conditions and help alleviate congestion.” – Town of Lexington Mayor Steve MacDougall.

The upgraded traffic-light system will allow ambulances transporting patients to Lexington Medical Center to utilize on-board traffic-signal emitters to safely and efficiently move through the improved intersections, in the hopes of reducing response times. The emitters interact with the updated traffic signals to ensure that all traffic signals ahead of an ambulance running lights and sirens turn green, so that the ambulance can move through the intersections.

Currently, there are 12 ambulances outfitted with traffic-signal emitters. Lexington County EMS has budgeted for four additional ambulances to be outfitted with the device in the upcoming fiscal year; the cost of outfitting an ambulance with the device is approximately $4,200. It is the County’s goal to eventually outfit each of the County’s 28 ambulances with these traffic-signal emitters.

Additionally, Lexington County Fire Service has outfitted seven of its fire response vehicles that respond to emergencies along the Highway 378 corridor with the traffic-signal emitters. The City of West Columbia Fire Department will also have the capability of outfitting their fleet with these same emitters.
“Lexington Medical Center is glad to work together with our community partners to help improve the flow of traffic on Highway 378. Most importantly, this project will allow ambulances to arrive at our hospital faster and provide our patients with lifesaving medical services in the timeliest manner.” said Tod Augsburger, president and CEO of Lexington Medical Center.

“This is a great example of a partnership between state, county, local governments and Lexington Medical Center. SCDOT appreciates the cooperation and assistance of all the parties involved. We know in the end, this will bring an improvement to the transportation system in Lexington County.” – Secretary of Transportation Christy Hall, SCDOT