Skip to main content

3M and Michigan DOT partner on connected work zone

Michigan DoT is partnering with 3M to utilise connected vehicle technologies
May 23, 2017 Read time: 2 mins

Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) is partnering with 3M to utilise connected vehicle technologies along more than three miles of I-75. Using solutions from 3M, the current I-75 work zone in Oakland County will be transformed over the course of four months to improve safety for drivers and to test advanced vehicle to infrastructure technologies on the connected and autonomous vehicles of the future.

3M will be providing MDOT with all-weather lane markings, retro-reflective signs with smart sign technology and dedicated short-range communication (DSRC) devices for vehicle to infrastructure communications. The updated materials will allow for redundancy and greater machine vision, as well as improved driver safety on the roads. Additionally, 3M will provide work crews ANSI-compliant clothing with 3M Scotchlite reflective material, to ensure proper worker safety throughout the project.

The I-75 modernisation project aims to position Michigan to be among the first states to test connected vehicle infrastructure on this scale. As vehicles become increasingly automated and connected, existing road infrastructure must be updated to ensure safety and reliability of this emerging technology. Signs, pavement markings, temporary traffic controls and vehicle identification systems need to be designed and implemented to pave the way for the data-driven environment of the cars and roads of tomorrow.

MDOT will resume construction on the I-75 modernisation project in May. In addition to rebuilding the interstate, MDOT will realign interchanges and upgrade geometrics to improve safety and travel time reliability. Installation of permanent RSUs is included to further support connected and automated vehicles. Overall, the I-75 Modernisation project will rebuild more than 17 miles of interstate that will support advanced technology and vehicles of the future.

Related Content

  • June 9, 2022
    Jaguar's What3words is Here
    Location technology has been integrated into OEM's cars on the road by SOTA update
  • May 19, 2017
    Trials of new technologies to counter age-old work zone challenges
    New solutions are being used to improve the management and safety of work zones on roads both big and small, as Jon Masters discovers. The UK government has recently been going to some lengths to paint a picture of a nation embracing a future of digital technology – understandably given the economic concerns arising from exiting the European Union. In December last year, however, the UK National Infrastructure Commission (NIC) put down a somewhat different marker for where the UK is now in terms of mobile c
  • October 16, 2020
    ITS Australia confirms 40 finalists 
    This year has seen largest number of submissions to organisation's National Awards 
  • December 3, 2018
    Panasonic in Colorado: Rocky mountain way
    Panasonic is at the heart of a C-V2X project which began last year in Colorado. The company’s smart mobility boss Chris Armstrong tells Adam Hill how it is working out Colorado needs traffic and transport solutions – and fast. The US state’s population has grown 50% in the last 20 years and another 50% hike is predicted in the next 20. It also spends more than $13 billion in roadway crash costs each year. In 2015, 546 people died in traffic-related crashes, and more than 3,000 were seriously injured.