Daily News Briefs, June 21, 2024

FHWA Awards $60 Million In V2X Grants For Initiatives In Arizona, Texas And Utah

The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) yesterday announced three recipients of grants totaling about $60 million under the Saving Lives with Connectivity: Accelerating V2X Deployment program. The agency hopes the awardees will “serve as national models to accelerate and spur new deployments of vehicle-to-everything (V2X) technologies.” The recipients are:

• Maricopa County (Arizona) DOT: $19.6 million to connect 750 roadside and virtual roadside units to about 400 onboard units for transit, emergency and freight vehicles.
• Texas A&M Transportation Institute: $19.2 million “to holistically enhance safety, efficiency, and overall mobility” for vulnerable road users, emergency responders, transit operators and construction workers, as well as everyday motorists between Houston and the City of College Station.
• Utah DOT: $20 million for V2X deployment in sites with varying population densities in Utah, Colorado and Wyoming. “The applications focus on safety, mobility, and environment, and support the ability to demonstrate measurable impact and address critical needs including connected intersection, weather impact, curve speed warning, traveler information and vulnerable road user and other safety alert technologies.”

More information on the V2X grants is available at FHWA Operations – Improving Day-to-Day Operations.

A Utah DOT news release provides more information about its program. It notes that the state’s extensive fiber optic network has allowed for an equally extensive deployment (96 percent) of connected traffic signals.

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Ohio Reports High Number Of Work Zone Incidents. Governor Orders Highway Patrol Response.

WKEF reports, Ohio DOT “is noticing something unsettling, about the amount of crews that have been hit by drivers this year. ODOT’s Southwest Regional Public Information Officer Mandi Dillon said [yesterday] that 49 crews have already been hit this year, and that is a ‘rather high’ number.” It also represents an increase of three incidents over the past 10 days. “One of the main factors ODOT is seeing with drivers hitting crews is speed, said Dillon. . . . She also said it is more than just ODOT crews that drivers need to look out for. ‘Any crew on the side of the road, be that emergency crews, ODOT crews, law enforcement — the law is to move over, and if you’re not able to move over definitely slow down,’ said Dillon.”

On June 6, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine announced that he directed the Ohio State Highway Patrol to increase patrols of work zones and crack down on driving infractions that put workers as well as motorists at risk. “The enhanced enforcement will include more troopers, including motorcycle units, monitoring work zones on the ground and increased use of OSHP’s Aviation Unit to spot dangerous drivers from the air. Troopers will target crash-causing violations, such as exceeding the speed limit, driving impaired, driving distracted, and otherwise driving recklessly in work zones.” The law enforcement campaign will supplement ODOT initiatives, such as driver education, “the launch of a new queue detection program, the addition of rumble strips in certain work zones to alert drivers to slow down, and the piloting of technology that allows workers to remotely place and remove orange construction zone barrels.” The announcement noted that there are currently about 500 active road construction zones in Ohio, and “950 additional road projects planned before the end of the summer.”

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Oregon DOT Gets Funds And Assistance For Portland Highway Clean-Up Effort

KOIN reports, a five-mile segment of I-84 in Portland, Oregon, will entirely close overnight and into the next day starting Saturday, July 13, “so crews can work to clean up areas hit particularly hard by trash and graffiti.” The closure, which will extend to some northbound I-5 lanes, will also permit maintenance work “such as electrical work, sign maintenance, patching pavement, cleaning drains and more,” to be carried out by Oregon DOT. Several agencies will lend personnel and support to the ODOT trash and tagging removal effort. A department official states, “We’re grateful to collaborate with Union Pacific Railroad, TriMet [a regional transit agency], the City of Portland and others for such an extensive cleanup. This is a rare opportunity to have safe access to perform clean-up work in difficult areas and we plan to take full advantage. We look forward to working with our partners to revitalize a highly visible area in Portland.”

In May, KGW reported on the ODOT graffiti abatement initiative funded by a one-time, $20 million legislative appropriation. And yesterday, the station revealed the lengths some Portland taggers go to get attention.

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These are just some of the toll industry developments TRN is following.

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