Skip to main content

UDOT launches variable speed limit system

The Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) has installed a new US$750,000 electronic sign system on Interstate 80 in Parleys Canyon that will allow engineers to adjust the speed limit during storms or icy weather. Eight electronic signs are in eastbound lanes, and seven in westbound lanes. Data from road sensors shows the road condition, along with the canyon’s temperature and humidity and traffic speed, while cameras will show visibility, enabling traffic engineers to remotely adjust the speed limit s
January 8, 2014 Read time: 1 min
The 1904 Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) has installed a new US$750,000 electronic sign system on Interstate 80 in Parleys Canyon that will allow engineers to adjust the speed limit during storms or icy weather. Eight electronic signs are in eastbound lanes, and seven in westbound lanes.

Data from road sensors shows the road condition, along with the canyon’s temperature and humidity and traffic speed, while cameras will show visibility, enabling traffic engineers to remotely adjust the speed limit signs and send alerts to the Utah Highway Patrol.

"Its whole aim is to improve safety and the consistency of flow in Parleys Canyon during weather events," said Robert Miles, UDOT Region 2 East District engineer. "We’re excited about it. We think we can really affect the safety and capacity of the roadway."

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Verra and Redflex: what happens now?
    August 16, 2021
    Verra Mobility has bought Redflex; Mark Talbot, who used to run Redflex and is now Verra’s head of government solutions, explains what happens next
  • UK’s latest smart motorway goes live on M6
    April 16, 2014
    The Midlands got a boost today with the launch of the latest stretch of smart motorway, making greater use of technology on the M6 near Birmingham, bringing improved journeys and less congestion. Opening the hard shoulder to traffic during the busiest times between junctions 5 and 8 on the M6 will improve journey times, especially around Birmingham and marks a milestone for the Highways Agency, after several years of investment in this section of the M6. This ten mile stretch means the benefits can now b
  • Measuring the effectiveness of winter VMS
    August 5, 2013
    A survey into the effectiveness of weather-related variable message signs on a trans-mountain highway has some interesting results, as Alexis Bacelar told ITS Europe. A study in the Massif Central region of France evaluating the usefulness of winter weather warning signs has highlighted the effect of variable message signs on driver behaviour. During the winter of 2009-2010, road operator Massif Central Direction Interdépartementale des Routes (MC DIR) started installing bad weather-specific variable messag
  • Machine vision makes progress in traffic applications
    June 2, 2014
    Machine Vision technology is easing the burden on hard-pressed control room staff and overloaded communications networks.