Smart Highways Electronic Reader Boards On I-90, Highway 2 Part Of New System To Help Traffic Move Smoother

The big reader boards going up along Interstate 90 and U.S. Highway 2 near Airway Heights have a lot more than messages to deliver.

They are the most visible part of a $6 million effort to build smarter highways over the next three years in Spokane.

The reader boards will be linked to a series of computers, cameras and sensors in what the government calls “intelligent transportation systems.”

In coming years, this new force will help motorists navigate the area’s major routes more quickly and safely.

The electronic reader boards will warn about dangerous road conditions - accidents, traffic jams, spills, ice, construction and delays.

Video cameras and pavement sensors will transmit instant data to an operations center where workers can take steps to ease congestion and let drivers know what’s happening.

A year from now, video images taken along I-90 will be posted on the Internet so commuters leaving their homes or offices can call up the pictures and know what conditions to expect when they leave.

The Spokane Regional Transportation Council is coordinating smart highways in conjunction with city, county and state agencies.

Glenn Miles, manager for the transportation council, said the goal is to make better use of Spokane’s existing highway network.

The improvements will be even more important as population grows and traffic counts increase, he said.

Many of the improvements expected in Spokane are already in place in the Puget Sound area. For more than a year, the state Department of Transportation has used the Internet to post photos from I-90 at Snoqualmie Pass and critical spots on Seattle-area freeways.

Money for smart highways comes from Congress’s 1998 highway bill, known as the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century, or “Tea 21.”

The new law more than doubles the amount of money coming to the Spokane region for easing traffic congestion and improving air quality.

During the coming year, Spokane will get $2.5 million for those programs. Most of that money will be spent on the smart highway improvements.

Until now, money largely has been spent on equipment for controlling road dust during the winter through more frequent vacuum sweepings and application of liquid deicer.

As part of that program, the state Department of Transportation has built mini weather stations at various locations along the highways to help it decide when and where to apply deicers.

Those same weather stations will be linked to the smart highways network to provide constant updates on winter driving conditions.

During the past summer, fiber optic cables were installed to carry data from the field and among the various agencies that manage the region’s roads.

The Regional Transportation Council is planning to open a new transportation systems center to coordinate the smart highways from its office at the Spokane Intermodal Center at First and Bernard. The office is expected to open in February.

Technicians at the center will gather information and monitor road conditions. During an emergency, they will be able to post messages on highway reader boards, and give car radio listeners even more details on a special broadcast channel.

The technicians also will be able to summon emergency crews when needed.

The system will have the capability of evaluating possible detour routes, and adjusting traffic lights to move traffic more quickly across those routes, Miles said.

That part of the system could be helpful in getting large crowds to and from community events, such as concerts at the Arena.

Miles said the long-range goal is to install the smart highway technology on all the region’s major corridors, including the Division, Sprague and Maple routes.

“It will be done one piece at a time,” he said.

So far, variable message signs have been erected near Argonne Road and Thor Street for westbound traffic on I-90; at the top of the Sunset Hill and near Division for eastbound traffic on I-90, and near Airway Heights for eastbound traffic on U.S. 2.

Miles said the message signs often will be blank. They will be activated only when conditions warrant a message.

That way, motorists will be more likely to pay attention to the signs when they are activated, he said.