"The People Mover Serves Downtown" cost HOW much to learn in lights?!

[Gannon]

We now have a second freeway warning system being installed throughout the Interstates of the city. It's been going in for a while, but seems to be nearing completion.

For many weeks, it read "The People Mover Serves Downtown" or some other inanity...before telling me that "Seatbelts Save Lives" or another perfectly already-accepted truth. We need to be reminded of something 97% of us already do by rote habit.


How much did this latest series of signs cost...and what happened to the old ones?! Who's paying this bill?!

And why?

[Honky Tonk]

"How much did this latest series of signs cost...and what happened to the old ones?! Who's paying this bill?!

And why?"

The taxpayers, because we're on the bottom of the food chain.

[One Shot]

I remember saying the same thing when they installed the first ones. If we were a major city with residents/visitors commuting in and out of the city every day and these things actually conveyed valuable info then MAYBE.
Along I-94 by the Gibralter Trade Center they are installing a million reflectors atop the center divider-a crew one by one. PURPOSE???
696-Installed barriers along the sides where the grass used to simply meet the shoulder. Now intead of a simple slide up and down the embankment your going to seriously damage your car.
Just like everything someones probably pushes for these contracts...

[DetroitPlanner]

The signs don't give suggestions all the time. If you travel during peak hour they provide valuable information if there are traffic back-ups.

You can go on the MDOT web-site and get information on all of the signs in the state. It is one piece of a larger incident management project that allows for more congestion to be handled without building or widening freeways. http://mdotnetpublic.state.mi.us/drive/Default.aspx

[cramerro]

The signs don't give suggestions all the time. If you travel during peak hour they provide valuable information if there are traffic back-ups.

You can go on the MDOT web-site and get information on all of the signs in the state. It is one piece of a larger incident management project that allows for more congestion to be handled without building or widening freeways. http://mdotnetpublic.state.mi.us/drive/Default.aspx

DP -

I understand the intention of these signs, and how they interface with the ITS center, etc. However, I really fail to understand any real benefits, espcially given the multi-million dollar pricetag to install each sign.

In other, larger metros, I have been assisted by said signs where there are different freeways and major surface streets that can be chosen on many commutes/trips in and around the area. They can give you the time of two or three reasonable routes, and you can pick the one with the best travel time that day.

In Metro Detroit, I'd argue that there really aren't many options that you could take once you get into the second tier 'burbs... especially if its just a crash that takes up a lane or two [[the exception is total freeway closures, but those happen a few times each year). I suppose you can route onto the 'spokes.'

The Amber Alerts are a great public service, but electronic billboards can do that easily as well. The other notes, about event traffic going a certain way, are also doubled up with permanent signs. And, the old standby, telling me how many miles and minutes to upcoming interchanges... how is that helpful?

Maybe what I'm pointing out is untapped potential, but I really fail to see these signs as actually helping with congestion management. Freeway closures and major construction are the exception... and I can hear an argument that people don't listen to the radio anymore so they can't get the message any other way. I guess I chalk it up to spending I don't agree with, and enjoy the kind messages it offers as I drive around town.

[Jimaz]

At risk of sounding like a broken record [[< age clue)....

All of these signs and signals do only one thing: convey information to the driver. That information could instead be sent wirelessly to the vehicle so the vehicle could display it to the driver. Physical signs and signals will become obsolete — less cost, less road clutter, fewer collision obstacles.

We already do something similar in a crude way on some freeways and national parks with low-power AM radio broadcasts to local drivers. We need to expand on that idea, Detroit.

And where's my flying car?