New London — A $1 million road safety improvement project has begun at Tilley, Bank and Sparyard Streets.

Funded through the Local Road Accident Reduction grant program, the modernization project will involve three intersections with signal and pedestrian accessibility upgrades.

Mayor Michael Passero said not only are current signals outdated but the area has a higher rate of accident exposure due to high traffic volume and its proximity to fire headquarters, resulting in heavy use by emergency vehicles.

The project includes the placement of innovative technology down to Howard Street to manage and control traffic signal priority for emergency responders. The upgrades will allow for preemption of the signals by fire personnel on route to emergency calls.

During the work, one lane of traffic will remain open at all times and detours and traffic delays are to be expected. Detours are directing vehicles up Blinman Street to Truman Street and back around Jay Street to Huntington, and to State Street to exit.

The work is in progress from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, with normal traffic operations returning after 5 p.m., and on the weekends. Construction is expected to continue into the fall, so motorists should be prepared for ongoing traffic delays.

The signal improvements were proposed as part of recommendations from the Downtown Transportation Study completed by Milone & MacBroom in 2017 and endorsed by the Southeastern Connecticut Council of Governments.