Construction to a three-mile stretch of Interstate 94 in Michigan installing an connected and automated vehicle (CAV) corridor is now complete and will soon be tested. The corridor allows drivers to communicate digitally with vehicles capable of driving themselves.
While the project is solely located in Wayne County, the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) and its partner for the project, Cavnue, said it may one day stretch between Ann Arbor and Detroit.
For now, evenly spaced metal poles rising from the median and a row of white delineators now line the leftmost lane of I-94 West between Belleville and Rawsonville roads.
The poles in the median are outfitted with cameras, radar sensors and wireless radio equipment meant to communicate with technology-enabled vehicles.
The high-tech express lane is still open to all motorists aside from semi-trucks for the immediate future, but it will also serve as a testing ground for the technology during off-peak hours, MDOT officials said.
Testing will be completed during off-peak hours – 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on weekdays – with dedicated test vehicles. During testing, advance signs will warn drivers that the lane is closed to regular testing.
CAV lanes, according to Cavnue, will provide a variety of benefits. The plan would be to have shuttles that can bring people into areas, allow autonomous vehicles using the lanes to communicate with each other to move faster and more safely, but will also accommodate mixed traffic.
The pilot project involved placing the dividers separating the express lane traffic, installing improved pavement markings and guardrails, completing a high-friction surface treatment and positioning new lighting, MDOT said.
The pilot project was paid for with private funds and intends to use insights gathered through testing of the lane to develop a larger, connected corridor on I-94 in Washtenaw and Wayne counties.
Source: Mlive.com, WXYZ.com
