Washington State Department of Transportation retimed two traffic signals along Highway 12 in Aberdeen to allow for better traffic flow.

Work on signals at the intersections of Chehalis and Tyler streets was finished Sept. 1, the Thursday before the start of the Labor Day weekend, on the request of an Aberdeen resident. They warned drivers early the next day — the traditional travel Friday — to modify trips through downtown and avoid Heron and Wishkah streets. Suggested as an alternative route was Pioneer Avenue, which has been repaired after winter storms destabilized it at Think-of-Me Hill.

“Our signals crew was intentionally trying to get it done before the holiday because we knew traffic gets worse over holiday weekends,” said Cara Mitchell, a WSDOT spokesperson based in Tumwater. “We were hopeful these changes would ease congestion.”

State employees have been monitoring the road, also known as East Wishkah Street, to find out whether vehicles were rolling faster in and out of East Aberdeen than before the signal modification.

“The traffic flow was really smooth,” Mitchell said. The latest on-site report came to her on Thursday but improvement of flow has been what WSDOT employees have noticed since making the changes.

Retiming of traffic signals on state highways is routine. The city has asked for crosswalk adjustments in the past, and state and city officials have worked together to devise timing changes along both directions of Highway 101 running through the downtown area.

“That was to help downtown businesses,” Mitchell said. “These changes are evaluated case by case. It’s important we listen to the city and review their requests. While there are federal highway standards, we try to balance those with the needs of cities.”

The traffic flow in that area was discussed during the last City Council meeting. Some of the elected officials said they had heard from constituents about the situation and wondered what the city could do.

Mayor Erik Larson said not long ago there had been city-requested changes in how crosswalk signals over the highway operate, and that the state might be surprised to hear about the location again. He has driven along the highway since the change but didn’t notice much of a difference, he said.

Mitchell added that WSDOT will continue keeping an eye on that section of the highway to find out whether the changes are effective long-term.