The Arizona Department of Transportation’s (ADOT) wrong-way vehicle alert system, established along Interstate 17, is the first of its kind in the nation and, as such, is drawing positive attention from other state agencies.
The pilot program stretches along 15 miles of the interstate, located between the I-10 interchange and Loop 101 interchange in northern Phoenix, Ariz. Thermal cameras detect and track wrong-way vehicles entering off-ramps or traveling the wrong way down the road. Testing is ongoing.
“We had heard about Arizona’s use of thermal cameras and wanted to learn more about the I-17 system’s components, including the computer-based decision support system,” Eric Hemphill, director of system and incident management for the North Texas Tollway Authority, and a recent visitor, said. “We’ve had our own successes with wrong-way vehicle countermeasures, so this was a valuable discussion.”
Other states have their methods of reducing wrong-way driver risks, of course, but ADOT’s effort is unique. ADOT has already been awarded the Best in Class award in a government Innovation Awards competition sponsored by IT magazine GCN for its work along I-17.