Pedestrians, drivers and cyclists may notice new traffic light timing in the northwest part of D.C. starting today.

The District Department of Transportation is adjusting the signal timing plans at 436 intersections in Wards 1, 2 and 4. Work will continue through mid-November.

“The retimed signals improve pedestrian and bicycle safety, smooth traffic flow, reduce transit running times, and lower emissions and fuel consumption,” DDOT said in a news release.

It also takes into account D.C.’s new 20 mph speed limit on local and residential roads.

The changes will happen in the area bounded by the Potomac River to the west, the D.C.-Maryland border to the north, Clifton Street NW to the south, and the Georgia Avenue and North Capitol Street corridors to the east.

DDOT gave Wards 7 and 8 this treatment in 2018 and downtown D.C. in 2019.

The retiming will include safety changes, such as:

• Leading Pedestrian Intervals at 207 additional intersections. Leading Pedestrian Intervals gives walkers a three- to seven-second head start with a white crossing signal before the traffic light turns green. This gives pedestrians a chance to get further out into the intersection before traffic begins, which makes them more visible in the crosswalk and helps reduce the number of crashes involving vehicles turning into pedestrians. D.C. already has this feature at more than 650 intersections.
• “Pedestrian signal recall” or automatic operation at 58 intersections. This means pedestrians don’t have to hit a button to get a walk signal. (You can read and hear more about the wild world of pedestrian push buttons here). Once complete, 89% of D.C. intersections won’t require a push button.
• Increased length of pedestrian crossing times at 97 intersections. DDOT says this will give people that walk slower more time and it also supports D.C.’s “age-friendly” goals.
• Revised traffic signal phasing to enhance multimodal safety and operations at 10 intersections.

The last retiming of the network was in 2016.

“The new timing plans are designed to accommodate the District’s varying multimodal travel demands by time-of-day (under normal circumstances) and incorporate new intersection construction and/or developments that have occurred since the last implementation in this network,” DDOT said in a press release.

The agency will monitor and adjust the plan through mid-November.