A truck bypass isn’t the answer to reducing traffic congestion in downtown Butler, according to initial findings in a study being done by Butler County and the state.

But smaller improvements using technology could help.

Engineers doing the review on heavy vehicle traffic in the city spoke with business and community leaders Thursday at the county government building.

While the study is in the early data collection phase, those doing it said it quickly became apparent that building a truck bypass wouldn’t make much sense.

“You would have to build a multimillion dollar project for a couple hundred trucks (per day),” said Michael Mudry, a senior project manager for Traffic Planning and Design Inc. of Pittsburgh. “The numbers don’t mesh up.”

Mudry was involved with a study done on Main Street in 2002 that eventually led to the street being reduced to three lanes. He said the idea of a bypass dated back to then, but added there was never any feasible financing plan proposed.

He added that many of the trucks in Butler are involved in business in the city and would not be affected by a truck bypass.

Instead of a large, expensive construction project, Bradley DiCola, the project engineer with Gibson-Thomas Engineering of Pittsburgh, said the study is looking to find solutions to improve traffic using smaller-scale ideas that are more cost effective.

“And these improvements can be added in phases,” he said. “You don’t have to put the Cadillac in right away.”

The study is expected to be done in November 2016. At that time, a recommendation will be made to state and local officials on options to improve traffic flow. It will be up to those governing bodies to act on any of the recommendations.

DiCola said some of those recommendations likely will be centered around improved signal and sign technology.

The city last year completed a SINC-UP Project with its traffic lights that recalibrated signals to allow for more smoothly flowing traffic on Main Street, as well as Cunningham and Jefferson streets and Center Avenue.

DiCola said further improvements can be made, including the use of newer traffic signal devices that are run on adaptive signal technology. Those signals, which likely could be used with the city’s SINC-UP improvements, use cameras to monitor real-time traffic and adjusts light cycles accordingly.

The city’s traffic lights currently depend on timers and detection wires under the road that can be damaged easily due to road deterioration.

Mudry said traffic volumes fluctuate during the day and having adaptive signals could help.

Truck traffic is heaviest in the morning between 7 and 8 a.m., peaks again mid-day between 11:15 a.m. and 12:15 p.m., and is heaviest in the afternoon between 3 and 4 p.m.

The peaks in truck traffic are the same for the peaks in other vehicles in the morning, but fall earlier than the noon lunch hour and the end of the workday commute peaks for passenger vehicles.

DiCola said electronic signs on state routes outside the city indicating periods of high traffic volumes downtown also could alert truck drivers to look for alternate routes.

“We’re looking for cost effective and feasible solutions,” DiCola said. “And it’s going to be technically driven.”

Truck traffic isn’t limited to just Main Street, Mudry said, as each of the state routes passing through the city carries its shares of heavy vehicles.

Researchers in September monitored truck traffic in and around the city, staging observation points on state routes leading into Butler.

DiCola said there were 2,100 heavy trucks observed at those points during the 13-hour session, but added trucks passing through two of the observation points would have been counted twice.

Enforcement is another area the study will look at that could help with trucks using those routes in the city.

DiCola said there is the possibility that weight stations could be added in or around Butler. He said the inconvenience of having to stop for a weigh station and possible fines could deter trucks that are simply looking to pass through

“That would help police with enforcement,” DiCola said. “The three Es are engineering, education and enforcement.”

There are several other areas engineers will examine, including recommendations to change some parking along streets downtown.

However, DiCola said any reduction in parking would likely face disapproval from residents and business owners.

“We’re aware of citizen’s concerns,” he said. “That’s an important part in all this.”

The county commissioners last year accepted a $435,000 grant for the study aimed at finding solutions to reducing truck traffic on Route 8, which is the city’s Main Street.

Most of the cost, 80 percent, is federally funded. The state pays 20 percent.

The study is administered through a PennDOT program to reduce truck traffic in congested corridors across the state.