Metering Lights Could Remain Dark For Days
SACRAMENTO (CBS13) -- Transportation officials say metering lights on Sacramento on-ramps may be down for days while a software glitch is corrected.
A majority of the on-ramp lights suddenly held on a red light or starting blinking red at about 3:20 p.m., right at the start of rush hour. Confused drivers hesitated at the red lights, leaving long lines of backed up traffic behind them until CalTrans workers were able to simply turn off all the meters.
"We were doing some software development this afternoon and somehow during that development, it sent a signal to the system to shut down," said CalTrans spokesperson Mark Dinger.
"We're trying to determine how that occurred and really how to prevent that in the future," Dinger added. "This is not something we would do on purpose."
Officials are hoping to fix to problem overnight but warn that some of the lights may remain down until Monday morning.
The exact impact on Thursday morning's rush hour traffic is unclear, but officials recommend that commuters give themselves extra travel time until the issue is resolved.
