Pa. Turnpike drivers will get a two-mile warning before traffic jams with pilot program
The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission launched a new pilot program this week to alert drivers to slow traffic.
Drivers on parts of the Pennsylvania Turnpike will soon know two miles before they hit a traffic jam.
The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission launched a pilot program this week to alert drivers to slow traffic.
Radar devices will be used to detect backups in real time, turnpike spokesperson Marissa Orbanek said. The slowdown will be relayed to drivers through temporary, digital road signs.
Drivers can expect to see the signs during overnight hours while roadwork is underway on the turnpike’s Northeast Extension between mileposts 26 and 20 on I-476.
The pilot is expected to last six months.
The pilot is “a unique initiative that supports advanced communication to customers ahead of roadway work, providing more time for our customers to safely slow down,” Tom Macchione, the turnpike’s director of traffic engineering and operations, said in a statement. “Keeping customers informed of what is ahead supports roadway safety and helps protect our workers who are working along the roadway.”
The plan is to alert drivers to the traffic conditions roughly two miles before they reach it, and then remind them when they are about a half mile from the area.
While the pilot program is being tested out in work zones, Orbanek said, the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission will evaluate “if and how we would want to use it in the future.”
There are a variety of ways to tell drivers to slow down already, Orbanek said, such as permanent signage along the road or alerts on maintenance team vehicles.
