The Beaumont City Council on Aug. 19 directed staff to proceed with preliminary engineering and the phased implementation of a smart-technology traffic-signal program after hearing a feasibility study from consultant STC Traffic.

The council’s action, taken after a roughly two-hour presentation and discussion, authorizes staff to advance design documentation, permit coordination and procurement for corridor-based installations that use edge-based video detection and adaptive signal control to reduce delay and improve safety. Council members said they want to proceed quickly on the highest-priority corridor, Highland Springs Avenue, while preserving opportunities to coordinate with Caltrans and adjacent jurisdictions.

The study presented by Jason Stack, owner of STC Traffic, identified Highland Springs as the first priority and recommended a corridor-based deployment that would later extend to signal groups along Beaumont Avenue and Oak Valley Parkway. “This is a game changer for the traffic system here in the city of Beaumont,” Stack told the council, summarizing the study’s findings and expected benefits.

The consultant explained that the recommended system replaces dated local controllers and loop detection with modern controllers, fiber or cellular communications and edge-based video processors that classify and track vehicles, bicycles and pedestrians; that intelligence allows adaptive signal timing at the corridor level rather than fixed pre-programmed plans. Stack said the most immediate benefits are fewer stops, lower travel time and improved emergency vehicle preemption where GPS-based preemption is deployed.

Key fiscal, technical and schedule details presented to council:
- Phase 1 (year 1): Highland Springs Avenue, estimated at about $680,000 for the initial implementation identified in the study.
- Phase 2: the Beaumont Avenue group of signals, roughly $1,000,000 in the consultant estimate.
- Phase 3 and later: Oak Valley and remaining intersections; the study estimates additional work and communications (including fiber conduit) that push longer-term program costs higher.
- A program-level figure cited in the presentation for a broader deployment was about $9.2 million; Jason Stack and staff noted that this is an order-of-magnitude estimate that will be refined during design and procurement.

Staff told council the city has included $2,000,000 in the proposed Capital Improvement Program for implementation; councilmembers asked staff to pursue phased procurement and to seek grant funding where available. The consultant and staff emphasized that installation at Caltrans-controlled ramp signals will require Caltrans permitting and coordination; staff said the Caltrans approval process can proceed in parallel with city design work.

Council members raised technical and operational questions about machine learning “seeding” and tuning, emergency-vehicle preemption and whether contractors would be procured by phase or under a single contract. Stack and staff said the adaptive layer is typically the last “switch” to flip in deployment: foundational work (new cabinets, detection, communications) is deployed first, and the adaptive overlay is enabled after systems are validated. Edge processing reduces the need to move raw video to a central server, Stack said, which helps with latency and privacy concerns.

Several council members sought assurances about neighboring jurisdictions and Caltrans participation. Councilmember Finn asked whether the Highland Springs estimate represented the city’s entire cost; staff clarified it was the total project estimate and said staff would continue outreach to the City of Banning and to Caltrans about cost sharing on shared corridors. Councilmember Martinez emphasized that the adaptive system must allow operator adjustments and reporting so staff can understand and, if needed, tweak priorities at particular intersections.

After discussion, a member of the council moved and the council voted to direct staff to proceed with the design and procurement steps and to implement Phase 1 (Highland Springs) consistent with the feasibility study. The council’s roll call vote recorded all members present voting in favor of the motion.

What’s next: staff said the next steps are to execute a design services contract, complete engineering investigations (survey, geotechnical work, utility potholing and traffic studies), produce 30% preliminary designs and prepare construction-ready procurement documents. Staff also noted permitting and coordination with Caltrans will begin immediately for ramp signals. The council asked for regular progress reports and baseline performance metrics so benefits can be measured after activation.

Votes at a glance
- Smart-technology at traffic signals: Motion to direct staff to move forward with design and to implement Phase 1 (Highland Springs) — approved (unanimous roll-call vote).