You may have noticed changes to traffic lights on Victoria Street in recent days, in downtown Kamloops.

By the end of today, the city will have finished adjusting the light schedules on Seymour, Lansdowne, and Victoria Streets, between 1st and 6th Avenues.

Crews worked on 17 streetlights on Sunday and again today, and the city says drivers can expect a “green wave” travelling east to west.

Transportation manager Purvez Irani also says pedestrians now get a head-start of almost five seconds when crossing at Victoria Street intersections, which means the light is almost five seconds shorter for vehicles.

“So basically all of the vehicles in all directions will stop, and then the pedestrians will start walking. So that they are identified easily, and pedestrians have a bit more right of way. Because pedestrian volumes are high on Victoria, so we are doing this pilot project,” he tells NL News.

“Five seconds include a perception and reaction time. So the pedestrian takes time to recognize ‘hey, it’s my right of way.’ It’s also time that the vehicles realize the pedestrians are present in the crosswalk.”

The pedestrian-first traffic lights are the first of their kind in Kamloops, and Irani says the city will continue to monitor how the changes are working and will make any changes as needed.

“So there will still be a little bit of tweaking happening.”