West Virginia Invests $4.7M in Road Safety Tech Upgrade
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West Virginia is funding a $4.7 million project to upgrade its roadway weather information system with real-time alerts to improve safety, especially during winter storms.
“Making sure our weather stations have the most updated technology to provide accurate information is important to everyone traveling in West Virginia,” Gov. Jim Justice said. “Safety is a top priority, and this funding is really going to help us keep our citizens informed about any potential dangers on the roads before they happen. We want everyone traveling in West Virginia to feel secure and prepared.”
Justice made a joint announcement Oct. 11 with the state Department of Transportation about a $4.7 million contract with Bridgeport-based Specialty Groups Inc. to upgrade and install Road Weather Information System equipment in WVDOT weather stations throughout West Virginia.
“RWIS is an excellent example of how the WVDOT can utilize technology to have instant access to information about local conditions to make decisions that will result in more effective management of the roadway system and provide important and timely information to motorists,” said Ted Whitmore, WVDOT’s director of traffic engineering.
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The goal is for the state to use RWIS technology to lower weather-related vehicle crashes in West Virginia by warning drivers with real-time alerts about dangerous roadway conditions.
The state operates 40 roadside weather stations that collect data on weather and road conditions for transmission to WVDOT’s Traffic Management Center in Charleston. The information is then used to promptly alert drivers about bad weather conditions and other road safety hazards.
The new RWIS system will enhance the state’s Intelligent Transportation Systems program with more sophisticated data collection and dissemination. It will enable WVDOT to more effectively manage state roadways and communicate local weather conditions to travelers using the state’s WV 511 notification system available via WV511.org, by calling 511 toll-free or through cellphone apps.
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“This information can allow the WVDOT to more efficiently optimize snow removal and ice control operations, identify weather and roadway conditions of concern and interest to motorists, and create site-specific forecasts for specific sections of highway. Data collected by RWIS stations is also provided to third parties, such as the National Weather Service, for weather monitoring and forecasting purposes,” the governor’s office noted.
According to the Federal Highway Administration, RWIS can interlink three key types of roadway safety information — atmospheric, pavement and water level data — to better enable state transportation managers to issue more detailed and timely safety alerts.
