Vermont tries out new winter road safety technology
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A message board to notify drivers of current road conditions stands along Interstate 89 in Williston on Tuesday. AP Photo |
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By Lisa Rathke Associated Presss - Published: January 7, 2009
WILLISTON — The state of Vermont is using new technology to monitor winter road conditions on Interstate 89 in hopes of saving lives and money.
Between Burlington and Bethel, the Agency of Transportation has installed five weather towers with cameras and sensors and a dozen roadside message boards to alert drivers to snowy roads or poor visibility. The information and images, which are relayed through the Internet and available online at www.511vt.com, also allow road crews to anticipate storms and changing road conditions and gear their response to them ahead of time.
"Half of it is getting the information to our maintenance forces so they can respond appropriately. The other half, and perhaps even more importantly, is getting the information to the public, slow 'em down," said Scott Rogers, the agency's operation manager. "The biggest cause of winter crashes is driving too fast for conditions, so if we can slow them down by the message boards, by 511 Vermont ... if we can slow them down we're going to make a difference."
The towers have a camera, and temperature, wind, visibility and humidity sensors while other sensors are embedded in the road to track surface moisture and temperature. Radar on the towers also monitor traffic speed, which officials say is another indicator of current road conditions.
"The object here is first and foremost to keep the public safe. Anything we can know ahead of time to be able to treat the roads will allow us to keep the public as safe as possible. The other factor here is our own efficiency: if we know where the trouble spots are we can come out and hit 'em and target our resources, and target how much sand and salt we need to put down and where we need to put it down, so that we're doing things as cost effectively as possible," said agency spokesman John Zicconi.
Federal funds covered 95 percent of the $700,000 cost of the five towers and dozen message boards on the stretch of Interstate 89, said Mark Gerrish, AOT's fiber optics project manager. Two towers in Williston and Brookfield were installed three years ago and upgraded this year while three stations — in Royalton, Berlin and Bolton — are new this year. Besides Interstate 89, weather towers have been set up at the Rutland Airport, along U.S. Route 4 in Fair Haven and Mendon, on Vermont Route 9 in Woodford and U.S. Route 7 in Brandon. So far the technology appears to be paying off.
In Brookfield, the number of vehicles sliding off the interstate has dropped by 75 percent, said Assistant Fire Chief Chris Woodruff.
"I think the savior is they're getting out earlier and taking better care of the road," he said. Other states have reported up to a 10 percent savings in maintenance costs, Gerrish said.
Road crews and drivers are not the only ones to benefit from the weather stations. The National Weather Service in Burlington taps into the data for temperatures, visibility and the images, to see how much precipitation is falling. "Any information we can get is useful," said forecaster Maureen Breitbach.
The state hopes to install 50 weather information stations statewide over the next 10 years.
The town of Stowe hopes to be one of the sites, on a section of Route 108, the Mountain Road, between Stowe Mountain Resort and Route 100. A steep part of the road, which is frequently traveled by skiers, has a history of dicey conditions, said Town Manager Charles Safford.
"A while back this year we had several dozen of cars off the road," he said. Even police had difficulty getting up the road, he said. The town met with transportation officials and submitted a formal request on Dec. 29.
"Right now we rely on people relaying concerns to us or police assessing it," he said.
Information Service: www.511vt.com
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