ADOT testing on the roads to stop wrong-way drivers

PHOENIX — Lights, action, camera!  No, it’s not a movie, but Arizona transportation officials are testing to try to keep drivers off the wrong side of the road.

The Arizona Department of Transportation is going out of its way to stop wrong-way drivers.  The department is testing detection devices on three off-ramps, looking for the best way to keep motorists going the right way.

“This particular system has radar to detect a vehicle when it’s approaching in the wrong direction and that, in turn, triggers red flashing LED lights on two wrong-way signs along the off-ramp,” said Doug Nintzel of the Department of Transportation.

Nintzel said this latest test is on a detection system that also includes a warning function.  “That warning function is that there are LED lights around the borders of a couple of wrong way signs along the ramp. Those light up as the vehicle approaches from the wrong direction,” said Nintzel.

The detectors were installed last week along, northbound Interstate 17’s exit to State Route 74 (Carefree Highway), eastbound Interstate 10’s exit at Ray Road, and the northbound Loop 101 (Agua Fria Freeway) off-ramp at Thunderbird Road.

These devices are manufactured by TAPCO, Inc.  The agency has been testing two other detection devices — manufactured by Wavetronix — which were installed late last year along a pair of Loop 101 exit ramps in the west Valley.

Nintzel said wrong-way drivers are a real problem across the country, not just in Arizona.

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