Odessa Traffic Signal Control Room for Centralized Traffic Management

At a Glance

Solution: Traffic Management System (TMS)
Location: Odessa, TX

The Challenge: Monitoring 150 Signalized Intersections from Separate Workstations

As Odessa's traffic signal network grew more complex, the City's Traffic Signal Shop, part of the Public Works and Traffic Engineering Division responsible for maintaining and improving the City's traffic signal infrastructure, identified a critical gap: limited situational awareness within its Traffic Management Office. Staff relied on individual workstations and smaller monitors, manually switching between software platforms, camera feeds, and signal timing tools on separate screens. Monitoring multiple intersections at once was difficult, coordination during incidents was reactive, and training new staff on a fragmented system was time-consuming.

The City wasn't looking for a bigger display. It needed a workspace designed around the way its team actually works, one space capable of supporting live monitoring, training, team collaboration, and communication with leadership, without needing to be reconfigured for each function.

The Solution: An ISO 11064 Traffic Management System (TMS) Control Room

Fountainhead Control Rooms partnered with the City of Odessa's Traffic Signal Shop to design and build a dedicated Traffic Management System (TMS) environment.

The project began with our operator-focused design methodology, following the principles of ISO 11064 for control room design. Working alongside City staff and end users, our team evaluated operational workflows, technology requirements, viewing angles, and future expansion plans before recommending a solution. Every decision was based on how the room would actually be used day to day, not simply which hardware to install.

The finished environment is centered on a 136-inch Samsung The Wall All-in-One LED display, complemented by a 65-inch commercial-grade 4K UHD display with 500-nit brightness. Together, the two displays give the team a shared operational view of the City's Traffic Management System while also supporting meetings, training sessions, and stakeholder presentations, without reconfiguring the room.

The AV environment was designed to serve four functions within a single flexible space: a live TMS monitoring area for real-time operations, a training and workforce development center, a team meeting and briefing room, and an executive demonstration environment for leadership and stakeholders.

Inside the TMS Control Room: Monitoring, Training, and Briefings in One Space

On a typical day, the environment serves as the team's primary monitoring area, where staff oversee the City's signal network in real time. The large-format display lets operators surface camera feeds, signal status, corridor performance metrics, and live TMS data side by side, without toggling between individual workstations.

The space also functions as a shared break and meeting area, giving staff a place to step away from daily operations while remaining ready for a rapid transition into briefings, incident reviews, or training.

Training has been one of the most immediately felt benefits. Using the City's AI-assisted vehicle detection system, staff can now display and compare multiple intersections at once during training sessions, something that wasn't possible on individual workstations. The 42nd Street corridor (State Highway 191), where recent signal optimization work has taken place, is frequently used as a live training case: staff can observe signal progression between intersections, evaluate timing performance, and identify coordination issues in real time.

What Changed for the Odessa Traffic Signal Shop

Since the project was completed, the Traffic Signal Shop has reported:

• Improved departmental collaboration, with the full team able to gather around a single display to review performance and align on solutions.

• Faster onboarding, with less time needed to train new staff on system operations.

• More confident use of AI-assisted signal tools, as staff can observe corridor behavior together in real time.

• Faster operational decision-making, with a shared visual understanding shortening the path from observation to action.