wnyc.org / 93.9fm / am 820

Midtown traffic jams can now be eased with the touch of a button, according to city officials who hope a battery of new traffic cameras, E-Z Pass readers and microwave motion sensors installed at 23 Manhattan intersections will help prevent congestion.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan unveiled the new system on Monday at the city's Traffic Control Center in Long Island City where information gathered by the sensors is wirelessly transmitted.

Bloomberg said traffic engineers can use it to spot congestion choke points and then "they can sit there and touch buttons to turn a light green quicker, leave it on green quicker, leave it off green quicker, whatever the case may be," he said.

The system, called Midtown in Motion, covers about 110 square blocks, from Second to Sixth avenues and from 42nd to 57th streets.

Officials said it will give them the ability to respond quickly to "crashes, construction, special events like the UN General Assembly and times when congestion saturates the network, causing backups that block cross streets and crosswalks."

Previously, traffic signals only could be set to preset signal patterns based on the time of day.

The program also involves the installation of new turn lanes at 53 intersections.

Bloomberg said the real-time traffic flow information will be made available to motorists and to app developers for use on mobile devices. The project cost $1.6 million, with $600,000 coming from the Federal Highway Administration.