The Arizona Department of Transportation's (ADOT) new Traffic Operations Center, which opened May 21, is busy developing strategies to effectively manage traffic flow once the I-10 widening project gets underway in June, according to a report in the Arizona Daily Star.
The Traffic Operations Center will allow workers to respond quickly to traffic situations that may arise once the on- and off-ramps between Prince Road and 29th Street are closed, limiting local traffic to the three-lane frontage roads along the freeway.
Workers inside the center will be able to observe traffic flow along the five-mile corridor on 10 50-in. television screens that receive live images transmitted from traffic cameras on I-10 and frontage road intersections, allowing ADOT to respond quickly to an event such as a major crash, the newspaper reported. They will also be able to change electronic message boards on both sides of the project, allowing necessary information to reach motorists as soon as possible.
Other features of the center include a conference room with Internet access, 16 phone lines, a computer and another large television, according to the Daily Star.
The center contains about 19 miles of fiber-optic cables, Mike Marum, a senior associate for TransCore, a traffic technology company, told the newspaper. Before the exit closures begin June 15, the center will be staffed 24 hours a day, Marum said, with an engineer on call and on site during morning and evening weekday rush hours.
By the end of the widening project ADOT will own the center, which is currently operated by contractors, Laurel Parker, an ADOT project manager overseeing the widening project, told the Daily Star.
Information from the center will be available to the public at www.az511.com, with roadway conditions updates and images from the traffic cameras.
