ADOT installs more than 2 dozen signs on I-17 to catch eye of wrong-way drivers
Jason Pohl
The Arizona Department of Transportation has installed more than two dozen new signs along a portion of Interstate 17 as part of an ongoing effort targeting errant, and often impaired, drivers.
The 26 recently installed bright, red signs are affixed to bridges or other structures facing the wrong direction of traffic along a 15-miles stretch of I-17. The goal is to catch the eye of a wrong-way motorist before he or she causes a potentially fatal crash, ADOT officials said Tuesday.
Placed between the Interstate 10 "Stack" interchange and the Loop 101, the signs — 13 in each direction — are the latest in a series of steps ADOT and others have taken to tamp down the deadly phenomenon of wrong-way wrecks.
The effort is in addition to other signage at off-ramps across the Phoenix area. Crews have also added new arrows and reflectors on the travel lanes of dozens of ramps to indicate the correct direction of travel.
Construction and testing is ongoing for the department's $3.7 million wrong-way vehicle alert system. Once completed, that system will use newly installed thermal cameras to detect wrong-way vehicles at off-ramps, automatically alert public safety personnel and light-up sign boards warning drivers of a possible oncoming vehicle.
That system is expected to be fully operational early next year.
There were 245 wrong-way crashes tallied on Arizona divided highways from 2004 to 2014, according to a sweeping state report assessing the scope of the problem. Those wrecks resulted in 91 fatalities, and 65 percent of wrong-way drivers were found to have been impaired — on par with the national average for impairment among wrong-way drivers.
Reach the reporter at 602-444-8515, jpohl@azcentral.com or on Twitter: @pohl_jason.
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