Motorists driving south on Interstate 80 near Gilman might have been surprised recently by a new sign with flashing “Xs,” yellow and green arrows, or a “30” or “55.” The sign is part of the I-80 Smart Corridor Project, an ambitious and technologically advanced $79 million endeavor to smooth the travel of the 270,000 cars that traverse from the Carquinez Bridge to the Bay Bridge each day. That stretch of road is frequently regarded as the worst in the Bay Area. Driving the eight miles from Richmond to Emeryville can take as little as 20 minutes or more than an hour, according to transportation planners. To alleviate that congestion, Caltrans, along with local county transportation agencies, is constructing a network of integrated electronic gantries that will provide real time traffic information that has been collected by sensors and cameras on the freeway and nearby roads. In addition, Caltrans is adding 44 metered on-ramps and signs on auxiliary streets like San Pablo Avenue. When the project is completed later this year, drivers will get warnings about the state of the traffic flow in front of them. The 11 signs that will stretch across I-80 (part of the 200 electronic signs in the project) […]
Motorists driving south on Interstate 80 near Gilman might have been surprised recently by a new sign with flashing “Xs,” yellow and green arrows, or a “30” or “55.” The sign is part of the I-80 Smart Corridor Project, an ambitious and technologically advanced $79 million endeavor to smooth the travel of the 270,000 cars that traverse from the Carquinez Bridge to the Bay Bridge each day. That stretch of road is frequently regarded as the worst in the Bay Area. Driving the eight miles from Richmond to Emeryville can take as little as 20 minutes or more than an hour, according to transportation planners. To alleviate that congestion, Caltrans, along with local county transportation agencies, is constructing a network of integrated electronic gantries that will provide real time traffic information that has been collected by sensors and cameras on the freeway and nearby roads. In addition, Caltrans is adding 44 metered on-ramps and signs on auxiliary streets like San Pablo Avenue. When the project is completed later this year, drivers will get warnings about the state of the traffic flow in front of them. The 11 signs that will stretch across I-80 (part of the 200 electronic signs in the project) […]