(COLORADO SPRINGS) — The City of Colorado Springs announced on Friday, March 24 that the City had earned a SMART Grants Program award for $1.7 million from the U.S. Department of Transportation.

The City said the grant will fund the Engineering Division’s to “strategize, prototype, and test next-generation traffic management tools at approximately 50 City intersections with traffic signals.”

The traffic management tools include radar and light-detecting and ranging technologies (LiDAR) to capture vehicle position, size, and speed as they enter and exit intersections, as well as non-motorized users in intersections, like pedestrians and bicyclists.

Other tools include continuous traffic counters to monitor traffic volumes and improve communication between the signals and connected vehicles, like public fleets such as transit and emergency vehicles.

Colorado Springs was one of only 59 grant award recipients across the country.

“We, along with our governmental, academia, and private-agency partners, will develop a plan to improve vehicle and non-motorized detection at signalized intersections across the City by leveraging a variety of new and emerging sensor technologies,” said City Traffic Engineer Todd Frisbie. “This grant allows the City of Colorado Springs to continue to be on the leading edge in developing advanced signal operations, with the ultimate goal of dramatically improving operations and safety for all users of our roadways.”

The City said potential application of these technologies includes optimizing traffic signal timing based on vehicle size and conditions, crash detection and reporting within intersections, queue clearing to accommodate emergency vehicles, transit optimization, extended crossing time for pedestrians, and bicycle detection.