RALEIGH, N.C. — Capital Boulevard is about to be less painful to drive down.

Traffic engineers plan to install a closed-loop system along a stretch of the road, meaning a centralized system would synchronize and control the traffic lights.

Many motorists have complained about the stop-and-go traffic flow on Capital Boulevard.

"The one's in the afternoon are really bad. The traffic gets bad [that] once you get to one stoplight, you're waiting on the traffic from the next stoplight. It's pretty tough to get through there," driver Stan Bittle said.

Engineers said the new system will improve travel times.

"It's an improvement in quality of life. You are not sitting there stuck in traffic. You are moving," DOT engineer Greg Fuller said. "Studies have shown we can reduce travel time by 1.5 minutes to three minutes a day on the average commute."

The closed-loop system will run on Capital Boulevard from Calvary Drive to Thornton Road. DOT officials said they will have to bury fiberoptic cable along Capital Boulevard from March 1 until December for the system. Officials also said they will be resurfacing the pavement, so there may be some traffic delays.