BOSTON (AP) – Officials at Logan International Airport are exploring plans to install traffic signals on the airfield in an effort to increase runway safety after a series of near collisions.

The signals would be posted at intersections of taxiways and runways and would work much like street traffic lights. The signal would flash red when a runway is active and green when it is clear for an airplane to cross.

In the past year, Logan has had 14 unauthorized airfield movements, or incursions, that put planes in danger of colliding – more than double the amount reported in the previous 36 months combined, the Boston Herald reported on Sunday.

A traffic-light system tested at Logan in the 1990s got poor reviews.

Flavio Leo, manager of aviation planning for the Massachusetts Port Authority, said the technology is promising and would provide pilots with direct visual cues of when it’s safe to go. They currently rely on radar and verbal communications, he said.

“Technology is ultimately going to play a major role in (runway safety),” said Logan Aviation Director Tom Kinton at a Massport board meeting last week.

A traffic-light system tested at Logan in the 1990s got poor reviews, but Massport officials said the technology has improved since then.

AP-ES-09-18-05 1048EDT