RALEIGH, N.C. -- For a small city, Raleigh has a big problem. We've got some of the most congested roads in the nation.

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Anyone who has tried to commute across the city knows one of the biggest hassles they deal with is red lights that seem to last forever and waste tons of time and gas.

 

"It's pretty frustrating," said driver Dan Moultrie.

 

Commuter Jake Kitchener explained it this way, "If you're pulling up to a light and see it turning yellow, you're not happy because you know you'll be sitting there spending some quality time at a stoplight."

 

In May of 2008, Forbes Magazine named Raleigh as the second worst city in the country for congestion; estimating drivers here spend 35 hours a year in traffic.

 

To drivers, some of that waiting time is at seemingly mistimed traffic lights.

 

"It seems like places through-out Raleigh have back-to-back stoplights," complained Kitchener.

 

But tough intersections aren't confined to Raleigh.

 

An NBC 17 viewer sent us an email complaining about Miami Blvd. and T.W. Alexander Road in Durham saying that he sat in a line of 15 to 20 vehicles for more than three minutes while staring at an empty road bin front of him.

 

Wasted time is also a problem for Dan Moultrie in Morrisville. He spends at least 10 minutes at the traffic lights at Cary Parkway and Chapel Hill Road, waiting for the signal to allow him to turn.

 

"You're just sitting here watching cars go by for five minutes. One, two or three cars go by while you're parked here waiting," said Moultrie.

 

But there's a solution to traffic light turmoil.

 

Raleigh has a plan designed to synchronize the city's stop lights.

 

"The idea is to move the most traffic we can most efficiently," explained H.P.  Humphries, who is in charge of Raleigh's traffic signals.

 

More than 600 intersections across the city will have their lights coordinated after engineers lay down fiber optic cable to connect the lights to new computer software.

 

The $28 million fix is still in the final planning stages and will be implemented in pieces says Humphries.

 

Here's how it breaks down:

 

      * Stage 1:  Construction starts in November 2008, covering Northeast Raleigh including roads like Capital Boulevard.

 

     *Stage 2: Construction starts February 2009, covering Southwest Raleigh including roads like Western Boulevard

 

     *Stage 3:  Construction starts in April 2009, covering Northwest Raleigh including roads like Glenwood Avenue

 

     *Stage 4:  Construction starts June of 2009, covering Southesast Raleigh, including Poole and Rock Quarry Roads as well as the downtown.

 

Once the system's in place, humans will fine tune it.

 

"Getting out on the streets and actually riding it helps us to see what drivers are actually doing will help us tweak it," said Humphries.

 

But city officials emphasize, no matter how well they fix the lights there is limited road capacity.

And as the area continues to grow, so will traffic congestion.