E-signs to show drive times on LIE
Cars travel southbound on the Meadowbrook Parkway, just north of the exit for the Southern State Parkway. (April 15, 2011) Credit: John Dunn
Crawling in traffic on the Long Island Expressway, knowledge is comfort: Exactly how late will we be?
The expressway's overhead signs are about to tell us.
By the Fourth of July, the state is hoping to post travel time estimates on the LIE, telling drivers whether it will take 10 minutes to reach the Cross Island Parkway . . . or 30.
"People do not like surprises," department spokeswoman Eileen Peters said. "When you sit in traffic and don't know why, it's a whole lot different when you know, 'I'll be out of this in 9 minutes.' "
From Riverhead through Nassau County and several miles into Queens, 25 overhead electronic signs will advise travelers in both directions when they'll reach a designated exit.
The LIE is the next Long Island thoroughfare slated for the electronic travel time messages, which are an outgrowth of a pilot program that began in 2007 on the Northern State Parkway. Still operational, that system uses E-ZPass sensors to calculate how fast cars are moving and posts the results on 12 roadside signs.
Last week on the Southern State Parkway, 14 overhead signs along its length began telling drivers how many minutes it will take to reach major exits. And the Department of Transportation's INFORM Center staff is now testing signs on the Meadowbrook Parkway.
An existing sign offers information on the best route from the LIE to the Throgs Neck Bridge, comparing travel times on the Clearview Expressway and Cross Island Parkway. And signs developed jointly by the state and New York City Department of Transportation post travel times on the Belt Parkway and the Staten Island Expressway.
The real-time average travel times on the Southern State and Meadowbrook are based on data from video, acoustic and wire loop sensors that have been used since 2000 to monitor traffic flow. Engineers and computer science experts, working with the DOT's INFORM Center, have modified traffic management software to calculate how many minutes it is taking for vehicles to move from one major exit to another, said Frank Pearson, the DOT's regional traffic engineer.
The goal: to give the nearly 1 million motorists driving state roads every weekday morning as much information as possible to plan their trips.
"It's nice to know that you do have some options," Pearson said.
Each day on the LIE, about 210,000 vehicles pass Exit 38 at the Northern State Parkway, according to DOT figures. On the Northern State, 191,000 cars pass the Meadowbrook exit, and on the Southern State, 225,000 cars pass Exit 18 in Hempstead.
As each day's traffic conditions unfold, the INFORM Center staff will have the option: whether to post travel times or other information, such as alerts warning of delays or road closures.
"Obviously, it's more important to tell drivers that Ocean Parkway is closed," Peters said.
