Going live this week are variable speed signs on I-70 west of Vail in Dowd Junction.
CDOT installed the signs last year and spent several months testing them. Officials say they have already been highly effective in Glenwood Canyon and along the Mountain Express Lanes between Denver and Georgetown.
In Dowd Junction 18 of these signs will adjust automatically to changing weather and road conditions. CDOT claims they have reduced crashes by 20% on I-70. In other parts of the nation they have cut the fatal crash rate in half, according to the Federal Highway Administration.
Dowd Junction is especially critical because there is no frontage road for traffic to sneak around an accident. Closures there can last hours.
“This milestone represents CDOT’s investment into technologies to enhance driver safety and improve traffic flow along one of Colorado’s most heavily traveled mountain corridors,” said CDOT Executive Director Shoshana Lew. “Statewide, weather- and congestion-based VSL algorithms are among the cutting-edge tools CDOT uses to enhance motorist safety.”
CDOT continues, in a press release: “The newly installed signs are LED electronic versions of traditional speed limit signs. This new technology automatically adjusts the speed limit displayed on the sign based on congestion, traffic conditions and adverse weather such as a snowstorm and icy roads. The weather stations also measure visibility, so low visibility will also result in a lower posted speed.”