The Department is completing design of a large-scale freeway traffic management system in the Greater Hartford Area. This project includes a 60-mile fiber-optic cable network, 103 video camera sites, 50 traffic flow detector stations and 38 LED variable message signs located along I-84, I-91 and Route 2. Interagency communications and information sharing is a key component of the new system. A video and data transport system will link the DOT Newington and Bridgeport Operations Centers, State Police Troop H and Middletown headquarters sites, and the City of Hartford Operations Center. This important initiative will enhance interagency coordination and promote a coordinated response for traffic management.

New traffic management projects are also in design for the Waterbury I-84/Route 8 interchange, the I-95 corridor in Southeastern Connecticut and I-84 between Plainville and Waterbury. Expansion of the existing 56-mile I-95 traffic management system in southern Connecticut will commence in 2001, including extension of the system easterly to Westbrook and northerly on I-91 in New Haven. Future design projects are slated for other congested highway segments such as I-84 in Danbury and the I-91/I-691 interchange in Meriden. A construction project to add video coverage of Route 15 in Milford in the vicinity of the Sikorsky Bridge will begin in 2001.

The continued maintenance and operation of traffic management systems is critical to maintaining the systems' effectiveness. Highway Operations staff and other Department personnel work closely to ensure that existing systems remain fully operational during highway reconstruction activities. Older equipment is upgraded or replaced as needed to maintain system integrity. One major highway reconstruction initiative currently underway involves the I-95 corridor in New Haven-East Haven-Branford and affects approximately six and one-half miles of the existing traffic management system. This is being done in association with the reconstruction of the Pearl Harbor Memorial (Quinnipiac River) Bridge.

The Management Information System for Transportation (MIST) control software for the I-95 system has been accepted and is operating successfully at the Bridgeport Operations Center. The institutional partnership with State Police Troop G personnel continues to be fortified and enhanced through technology and information sharing.

As new ITS management systems are deployed to allow agencies to better manage the transportation network, it is critical that the information gathered from these systems is made available to travelers. The provision of real-time traveler information to the public and media is an important Department goal. ConnDOT has recently added real-time information capabilities to its web site (www.dot.state.ct.us) that includes a scrolling list of active traffic incidents, video camera images from the Newington and Bridgeport Operations Center systems, and highway travel speed information for the Hartford area freeways. In addition, voice and video transmissions of travel information have been made available to media outlets. Newly deployed systems will provide even more extensive pre-trip and en-route information to Connecticut travelers.

Effective ITS deployment requires judicious agency planning. Consideration of ITS components such as traffic management and traveler information systems are now considered part of transportation planning alternatives rather than being considered a stand-alone option. ITS early deployment studies in the Greater Hartford and New Haven-Meriden areas have provided an opportunity to "mainstream" ITS deployment strategies into regional transportation planning activities. ConnDOT is currently working with the Southwestern Regional Planning Agency (SWRPA) for development of an ITS planning effort that will consider regional intermodal coordination. The Department is also participating in a Regional ITS Study for the Greater Bridgeport area that is being coordinated through the local regional planning agency.

William W. Stoeckert
Highway Operations Director
Department of Transportation
2800 Berlin Turnpike
P.O. Box 317546
Newington, CT 06131-7546
Telephone: (860)594-2630
FAX: (860)594-2655
E-Mail: william.stoeckert@po.state.ct.us

Homepage for Connecticut Department of Transportation: www.state.ct.us/dot

________________________________________________________________________