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How a nearly $40 million grant could help Utah ease traffic congestion along the crucial stretch of I-15

How a nearly  million grant could help Utah ease traffic congestion along the crucial stretch of I-15

TAYLORSVILLE – It’s not uncommon for drivers to experience traffic jams and traffic jams on I-15 through Salt Lake County, but Utah is now next in line to implement a ramp control system that could improve travel times.

The Federal Highway Administration recently awarded the Utah Department of Transportation nearly $40 million as part of its Congestion Relief Grant to implement a coordinated adaptive ramp metering (CARM) system along southbound I-15 from the State Route 201 junction in South Salt Lake awarded to 14600 South in Bluffdale.

UDOT officials said Wednesday that planning is currently underway for future implementation of the system, which will make it one of the first in the country to adopt the technology first implemented in Australia.

“We’re very excited about this because it really gives us the opportunity to make our highway system – one of our most valuable assets – more efficient without adding additional capacity,” said Grant Farnsworth, UDOT’s highway operations manager.

CARM would replace the traditional method of ramp counters that determine when drivers enter the highway. UDOT officials say these are based on traffic signals and sensors on the ramp that regulate when drivers are allowed onto the road.

The only problem, Farnsworth said, is that it doesn’t solve problems with severe congestion. Normally, vehicle capacity on I-15 drops from 1,900 vehicles per hour per lane to 1,250 during peak travel times.

CARM, on the other hand, relies on a “dense set of sensors” that relay information to a software program about the number of vehicles using all the ramps in the system. This all happens instantly at constant 20-second intervals, adjusting when drivers are allowed onto the highway at each on-ramp.

He said this would likely reduce waiting times for those wanting to access the highway, as well as general congestion.

UDOT has been talking about the technology “for some time” and even met with experts from Australia, where the system originated, Farnsworth added. Utah transportation officials also exchanged extensively with colleagues at the Colorado Department of Transportation, which began testing CARM two years ago on a stretch of I-25 southeast of Denver.

Colorado transportation officials noted they had become interested in the system when traffic officials in Melbourne, Australia, reported a 25% increase in traffic flow and a 35% to 60% increase in vehicle speeds during peak travel times after switching measurement methods.

Farnsworth said he hopes Utah can achieve similar success, but that won’t happen right away. UDOT officials said construction will begin in 2027 before being ready for use sometime after that.

“It’s about making the highway system work better,” he said. “It helps ensure that all users of the motorway network have a more reliable and safer motorway driving experience. It will accommodate both people on the highway and those coming onto the highway.”

The key findings for this article were generated using large language models and reviewed by our editorial team. The article itself is written entirely by people.

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