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U.S. 19 traffic controls to become "intelligent" It's Traffic Cams Vs. Traffic Jams

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By CHRISTIAN M. WADE

The Tampa Tribune

Published: March 19, 2008

NEW PORT RICHEY - Twenty miles of asphalt, neon signs and belligerent motorists.

Driving U.S. 19 from the Pinellas to Hernando County line is a maddening experience, taking motorists on one of the most congested, and deadliest, highways in the state.

Relief is on the way, but from an unlikely source: a computer software program.

The state Department of Transportation is nearing completion of a $10.5 million project to install a new traffic-control system along the entire length of U.S. 19 through Pasco County.

The project is a joint venture between DOT and Pasco County, which has been grappling with ways to ease congestion on traffic-choked roadways across the county.

Beginning this summer, every traffic signal between the Pinellas and Hernando lines will be linked to a computer system that monitors the traffic flow through cameras mounted along the highway and adjusts the signals to keep things moving smoothly.

The technology, Intelligent Transportation Systems, could be the future of traffic control.

"This is cutting-edge technology," said Bill Wilshire, an ITS project manager for DOT.

The system involves two types of cameras: closed-circuit television cameras and video detection cameras. The closed-circuit camera is used to monitor traffic flow and reduce traffic congestion. The video detection cameras are used to signal a light to change.

Eventually, the system will have 25 cameras spread along U.S. 19.

Wilshire said the cameras will not be used for law enforcement surveillance purposes.

"They're not for enforcement, they're strictly for monitoring the traffic flow," he said.

High-tech computer software will adjust the length of time signals stay green. A change in one reverberates across the rest of the highway's traffic signals to prevent backups.

Inside the 911 operations building at the West Pasco Government Center on Little Road, traffic managers will monitor the flow through each intersection on a master board.

"It learns and remembers," Bob Reck, the county's traffic operations manager, said of the sophisticated computer program that will run the system. "It will be able to go back and look at traffic flows from previous time periods so we can anticipate problems."

Under the current system, the traffic signals in Pasco, Hillsborough and Pinellas counties run in scheduled time blocks: rush hour, midday, evening rush and night. The signals at major intersections change regardless of the amount of traffic passing under them.

Similar projects are under way in Hillsborough and Pinellas counties, as well as on major turnpikes such as the Suncoast and Polk parkways and the Veterans Expressway.

Reporter Christian M. Wade can be reached at (727) 815-1082 or cwade@tampatrib.com.

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