The Florida Department of Transportation is beginning work this week on a $24 million network that will include 183 traffic cameras, 17 overhead message signs, 135 microwave vehicle detectors, 40 travel time sensors, three road and weather information sensors and eight highway advisory radios.
Construction crews will begin installing fiber optic infrastructure for the high-speed communication network along a 158-mile section of I-10 from State Road 87 in Santa Rosa County to U.S. 90 in Gadsden County.
The network also will extend 56 miles along U.S. 231 from the Alabama State line to Bay County. Installation will begin at the I-10/U.S 231 interchange and proceed east and west along I-10 and north and south on U.S. 231.
In addition, a new regional transportation management center will be established at the FDOT District Three’s Chipley headquarters.
Traffic impact will be minimal, but motorists should be alert for the presence of construction crews, vehicles and equipment.
The network will provide a platform of technologies that will improve incident response times and allow FDOT personnel to detect incident locations and severity, and ensure all needed emergency responders and equipment are dispatched to an incident scene, a spokesperson said.
The project is scheduled for completion in spring 2015.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Network of traffic cameras, overhead message signs coming to NW Florida