High-tech Recovery Act road project aids Placer County motorists
Federal stimulus funds for traffic sensors are aiding Placer County commuters on Highway 65. Located under the pavement, the sensors provide real-time information for Caltrans at their traffic center in Rancho Cordova. Media traffic reporters use the information over the air or on the Web to help guide drivers during the busiest parts of the day. And motorists can find the information at the Caltrans Web site. A total of $1.2 million in President Barack Obama’s Recovery Act funding was used to install a total of 18 electronic sensors and under-pavement loop detectors on Highway 65, Highway 99, Interstate 80 and Interstate 5 at key locations in Placer, Sacramento and El Dorado counties. The work was recently completed by a Sacramento general contractor within budget and is part of $2.1 billion California is receiving for Recovery Act projects. Mark Dinger, Caltrans spokesman, said the new sensors will help drivers to gauge when and where to make their morning and evening commutes, as well as trips through the Sacramento-Placer-El Dorado region during the day and night. With the aid of the Web, a commuter can log onto the Caltrans Web site at ca.dot.gov and zoom onto a map that shows where delays could lie. For instance, sensors located at Interstate 80 and Auburn Ravine Road at Auburn’s Foresthill exit provide information on how heavy traffic is and what speed traffic is flowing at, Dinger said. “That’s also available to traffic reporting services,” Dinger said. For Caltrans, the information received at Rancho Cordova can be used to deploy units quicker to hot spots and – over the long term – to gather numbers for planning transportation projects in the future, he said. The information is also used on electronic signs to give drivers a better indication of how many minutes it will take to arrive at a destination, Dinger said. A Caltrans statement said that the sensor projects and others around the state are being completed sooner than expected. “Thanks to this Recover Act funding project, commuters in Northern California will be able to plan their routes better to reduce their travel time,” said Caltrans Director Randy Iwasaki.
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How about fixing the bridges? Or just tear the money up. This is waste of dollars that could be used to improve the infrastructure.
chuxxr, I totally agree with you on this one.
Also, if it is against the law to talk or text while driving how is anyone going to access the Caltrans web site while in their car to get real time information.
Probably it was just a favor for a friend's contracting business, doesn't do much otherwise, of yeah, it provided workers with paychecks for a couple of months, now back to the unemployment line
Yep, quite a waste of our taxpayers money. But then again does anyone have a total amount of how much was wasted in 2009?
An informative article. I am not sure who's "recovery act" this is - but I do know it is "my" taxes either now or in the future that are going to pay for it! While a sensor at Foresthill Rd. may be used for someting useful - but as a regular commuter, I think cell phone calls to the Highway Patrol or Radio stations provide the source for quick real-time information we as commuters need - though, telling me traffic is slowing at the Hwy 65 merge area does not really affect my commute habits. Maybe once a year I may divert to Auburn Folsom Rd or Taylor Rd if there is that extremely rary problem - but that info does not come from sensors. How many jobs were created by this project? How does this help recover? What was the cost breakdown of each sensor (parts & labor?) - I do not reacall seeing any extended construction project at the Foresthill exit, thus I am assuming these sensors are a pretty quick install. In the mean time I will leave my home at 6:50, head down the hill & hope there are no major slow downs. I do know when traffic starts to consistently back up and slow down it is a good sign for wider lanes - don't need a sensor to tell me that!
I feel safe in saying that no matter what they spent this on....Chuxx would be against it.
i'd like to have road usage data so in the future when a greater amount of funds is spent it is going to the most significant areas as evidenced by this projects analysis. seems like a waste but its a little like building a fence before the house, you're gonna build a house and will either want a costly alarm or need a fence so why not spend a little money now on the fence and see how many people jump it before you buy the alarm? and all the while your construction tools are safe. same principle behind rented fencing. we analyze traffic and the most used or problematic roads get the most funds the quickest. problem here is it had something to do with obama, if the man held lightning, walked on water, and showed on letterman with jesus people would still gripe about contaminated water, wasted electricity, and no separation of church and state.
A total of $1.2 million in President Barack Obama’s Recovery Act funding was used to install a total of 18 electronic sensors - Auburn Journal
Waste is worse than loss. The time is coming when every person who lays claim to ability will keep the question of waste before him constantly. The scope of thrift is limitless. -- Thomas A. Edison