System Keeps Its Eyes On Road

By RICH SHOPES The Tampa Tribune

Published: Oct 19, 2007

TAMPA - A new traffic management system designed to warn motorists about traffic jams before they reach them is now fully functional.

Using cameras on 40- to 120-foot poles, traffic managers can monitor road conditions and post warnings to massive electronic signs that span Interstate 275 and I-4.

Drivers then can decide whether to wait out delays or take the next exit.

"It gives them more choices," Department of Transportation spokeswoman Kris Carson said.

The heart of the system, a $9 million traffic management center, became operational in July. Radio dispatchers from the Florida Highway Patrol moved into the building a few weeks ago to work alongside the traffic managers. A ribbon-cutting for the center is set for today.

Most of I-275 and I-4 is already wired to the center. Computers in a temperature-controlled room send images from the cameras to a bank of 64 video screens mounted inside the center.When traffic managers see an accident or congestion, they can alert motorists with a few keystrokes.

The department is waiting for the completion of a widening project on I-275 from the I-4 junction to the airport exit before adding that stretch to the system. Eventually, Interstate 75 will be hooked up.

The effort, begun in 2004, is part of a 10-year, $100 million push by DOT to manage congestion in the Tampa Bay area.

Soaring costs for land and new roads in recent years - asphalt costs alone have increased 80 percent since 2004 - have prompted department officials to focus on technology.

The traffic management system costs about $500,000 per mile, while a mile of new interstate costs about $750,000 per lane in urban areas. That doesn't include engineering, design and land costs - the last of which can exceed all the others.

"We can't keep buying more right of way," Carson said.

The traffic cameras, housed in plastic domes, are versatile, able to swivel 360 degrees, tilt 90 degrees and zoom in on accidents from a quarter-mile away.

By spotting accidents quickly, traffic managers can respond with motorist warnings and detours. About a fourth of highway accidents occur after another crash has happened up ahead, said Intelligent Transportation Systems operations manager Terry Hensley.

"The faster we can clear these incidents, the safer we can make it for the public," he said.

The technology has limits. Officials say the cameras were designed to withstand 110-mph winds, but they have not been tested during an actual hurricane in this area. The center itself, encased in concrete, is certified to withstand a Category 3 hurricane.

A lightning strike a few months ago, however, caused a Progress Energy transformer to explode, damaging some of the traffic system's wiring and causing a coverage gap on I-275 from 54th Avenue North in St. Petersburg to the east side of the Howard Frankland Bridge.

Repairs to the system, begun after Progress Energy replaced its equipment, should be completed by December, officials said.

"We have equipment in place in case of lightning, but no one can protect against a direct hit," Hensley said.

Reporter Rich Shopes can be reached at (813) 259-7633 or rshopes@tampatrib.com.