Beginning Monday morning, the Ohio Department of Transportation will turn on about 30 on-ramp traffic signals around the Columbus metropolitan area to help with traffic flow.
ODOT spokesman Matt Bruning said many of the metered lights are at Ohio Highway 315 and Interstate 71. He said radars detect when traffic becomes congested and the signals adjust.
“It may be green to allow ten cars to go through every 15 seconds when traffic is free flowing. It may dial that back to where now it’s only going to let only one or two cars go every 10 seconds as traffic builds on the freeway," Bruning said.
Bruning said meters will also be turned on in other high-traffic areas such as Roberts Road and Greenlawn Avenue.
Bruning cautioned, running the lights is a traffic law violation.
“Running a red light at a ramp meter is no different than running a red light at an intersection.”
The signals were installed in the late 90s, but only a few have been regularly operating in recent years.