Skip to main content

Virginia installs ATM to ease congestion on I-66

The Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) has begun work on installing an active traffic management |(ATM) system on interstate 66 through Arlington, Fairfax and Prince William counties from the Washington, DC line to Route 29 in Gainesville. Designed and built by TransCore, the system is intended to improve safety and incident management and will include new sign gantries, shoulder and lane control signs, speed displays, incident and queue detection, and increased traffic camera coverage.
November 17, 2014 Read time: 2 mins
The 1747 Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) has begun work on installing an active traffic management |(ATM) system on interstate 66 through Arlington, Fairfax and Prince William counties from the Washington, DC line to Route 29 in Gainesville.  

Designed and built by 139 TransCore, the system is intended to improve safety and incident management and will include new sign gantries, shoulder and lane control signs, speed displays, incident and queue detection, and increased traffic camera coverage.

Sensors, traffic cameras and overhead signs will enable VDOT to change the signs to give drivers real time advance information on upcoming traffic, crashes, congestion or closed lanes. VDOT hopes that getting people out of closed lanes before they reach incidents will make the slowdowns less abrupt and less severe. If there is standard traffic, the signs could be changed to give drivers a warning about exactly how far away the congestion begins.

Although ATM is a relatively new concept in managing traffic in the United States, it is popular in Europe, such as the Highways Agency’s smart motorways project in the UK.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • IBT goes roundabout in Bradenton, Florida
    May 10, 2019
    Yet another roundabout is being built in the US. The public remains sceptical but agencies and contractors are on board, writes David Arminas Global construction company IBT, based in Miami, has won a contract to install a traffic circle – or roundabout - on State Road 64 near Bradenton, Florida. The deal is part of a road improvement project with the Florida Department of Transportation (DoT). The 13-month project started in November. Worth only $5 million, it is not a big infrastructure contract. But
  • Video analytics enhances urban rail safety
    December 16, 2016
    David Crawford explores some promising innovations for North American commuters. North America is experiencing a surge in commuter rail and metro development. The US now has 75 light rail and metro networks in operation; and California, in particular, is actively exploring ways of developing the state’s existing passenger rail operations into a fully integrated system.
  • Ireland to deploy ITS technology to save lives
    March 18, 2014
    In the wake of the European Parliament’s approval of the mandatory installation of automatic emergency phones in all cars and vans by 2015, the Irish Times says Ireland’s National Roads Authority (NRA) is to deploy a range of intelligent transport systems to improve travel times, warn drivers of weather, dangers and delays ahead and automatically notify emergency services in the event of crashes or even the potential for crashes. The NRA has developed a motorway traffic control centre, based at the Dubli
  • Drivers urged: ‘Don’t put road workers lives at risk’
    May 23, 2018
    A road junction in Merseyside, UK, has become a hotspot for life-threatening incidents to construction workers, says Highways England. Contractors have reported 23 incidents in two months where their safety has been put at risk by drivers ignoring overnight closures. Road users have driven into roadworks for the £3m improvement project at Switch Island, where the M57, M58 and three A roads all join. One lorry driver travelled through the construction area without stopping - forcing workers to get out