Introduction

Incorporated in 1850, Tyler is located 98 miles southeast of Dallas and is the county seat of Smith County. There are several State and US highways that run through and around the City of Tyler, including US-69, US-271, SH-14, SH-31, SH-64, SH-155, and SH-323. These highways, highlighted in Figure 1, provide a network of access to the City of Tyler from the surrounding cities. In addition to these highways, Broadway Avenue and Erwin Street are two major arterials that have seen an increase in traffic over time. Tyler has no interstate highways in the city limits, but IH-20 borders part of the Tyler city limits, connecting the city to other regional hubs such as the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex.

Figure 1 - State Highways in City of Tyler

As one of the leading cities in East Texas, Tyler has seen steady growth in population over the past decade. The city’s current population was estimated to be at 105,729 in July 20181 with a total area of 57.2 square miles. Tyler is the principal city in the Tyler metropolitan statistical area, which has an estimated population of 209,714 as of 20102 .

1 https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/tylercitytexas 2 factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=DEC_10_NSRD_GCTPL2.US24PR

The City of Tyler’s Traffic Operations staff provides traffic management and maintenance for 149 signalized intersections. The Traffic Operations staff has the following responsibilities:

Manufacturing and maintaining City street signs Installing and maintaining pavement markings on City streets Maintaining traffic signals within the City limits Analyzing and implementing traffic signal timing Planning for current and future traffic control needs Mitigating traffic congestion within the City limits Conducting traffic safety studies Ensuring street lights are installed and maintained in a timely manner Providing oversite of the public school crossing guard program