According to a recent report by the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT), the use of Variable Speed Limits (VSLs) along a section of Interstate 90 in Lake county reduced crash rates by 35% over a seven year period.
ODOT and the Lake County Sheriff's Department collaborated to develop Ohio's first VSL section of highway on I-90 in 2017. They used digital speed limit signs to reduce the speed limit during adverse weather.
In a statement put out by ODOT, the Ohio General Assembly played a key role, modifying the state's speed limit law to give ODOT the authority to temporarily reduce the statutory speed limit along this specific stretch of I-90.
Between 2005 and 2015, ODOT said I-90 between State Route 44 and State Route 528 had a yearly averageof 76 crashes, 37 of which were during the winter. Since the implementation of the VSL, crashes along tthat stretch of I-90 dropped by over 35%.
Major crashes have also been reduced by more than half since the VSL system went live.
The roadway’s VSL sign system works in coordination with ODOT’s existing Intelligent Transportation System that includes traffic cameras, dynamic message signs, and road weather information stations to monitor visibility and precipitation.
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Source: AASHTO
