N332 Punta Prima Roundabout - Expect Delays Until End May

[Carl]

In summary, installation of AI-based traffic light system will begin at the roundabout on Monday, with work expected to last until end of May. Partial lane closures can be expected.

Rather amusing that the article refers to problems at the roundabout worsen at peak tourist times such as Easter and the summer, yet someone somewhere has decided the works should commence as the Easter holidays begin.

Google translate, minus images and video:

https://www.informacion.es/vega-baja/20 ... 64849.html

Transport begins installation of an AI-powered traffic light system at the Punta Prima roundabout on the N-332 in Torrevieja

The pioneering project, valued at 409,000 euros, will monitor traffic and regulate it based on user experience and data collected at one of the most congested roundabouts in the municipality.

The Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Mobility will begin work next Monday, March 30, on the installation of an artificial intelligence-based traffic light system at the Punta Prima-Rocío del Mar roundabout, located at kilometer 52.8 of the N-332 highway, within the municipality of Torrevieja, bordering Orihuela. The project has a budget of €409,369 (including VAT), financed by European funds from the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan.

Due to these works, and "to guarantee the safety of workers and users", there will be partial road closures between March 30 and the end of May.

Traffic light management

The project's objective is the implementation of an intelligent traffic light monitoring and management system based on machine learning and reinforcement learning techniques, so that the system can adjust traffic regulation based on user experience and collected data.

These techniques are complemented by neural networks, massive data analysis, traffic modeling and traditional traffic engineering methods to analyze the operation of the roundabout and select the most efficient solution for all users at any given time.

Cameras

The works, as reported by INFORMACIÓN, will include the installation of traffic light poles at the entrances to the roundabout, the placement of detection cameras and traffic data collection devices at each entrance, information that will be processed by a control system based on Artificial Intelligence, capable of automatically regulating traffic light cycles according to the actual intensity of vehicle traffic.

This intervention "seeks not only to improve the flow and management of traffic at the roundabout, but also to lay the foundations for incorporating intelligent systems into the road management of the State Road Network."

Traffic

Once deployed, the AI ​​will have to work intensively at this roundabout and will be "trained" intensively. The roundabout is a traffic bottleneck year-round, a problem that worsens during peak tourist periods such as Easter and summer, as are the La Zenia roundabout, slightly further south, and the Torrevieja bypass, a few hundred meters further north.

According to the traffic counting station of the Ministry of Transport's traffic map, this section of the N-332, which has two lanes in each direction, handled an average of 45,000 vehicles per day in 2024.

[Brandyboy]

Utter madness .. It is not ....

'One of the most congested roundabouts in the municipality nor is it 'a traffic bottleneck year-round.' I use that roundabout hundreds of times a year and of course it gets busy in the holiday period, so you work around it.

You don't go to the La Zenia Boulevard in July and August with the intention of getting there at 10am when they open because every Tom, Dick and Pedro will have the same idea and you'll be queuing from La Zenia back to Playa Flamenca, !!

Punta Prima roundabout also get very busy in the evenings at peak holiday times and traffic is very heavy on all roads entering it.