Road Weather Management Program - FHWA Operations - U.S. ...

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Best Practices for Road Weather ManagementVersion 3.0media and public, and in this way, the message of travel impacts can reach a much largeraudience than UDOT may be able to on its own.Road condition reports are updated hourly from the TOC and at least twice daily from plowoperators in the field. Plow operator reports are favored for their on-the-ground accuracy, butthey lack the timeliness the public demands. Plow operations requires a high level of focus onsafety and snow/ice mitigation, especially during hazardous and changing conditions, andreporting conditions becomes a lower priority. Utilizing in-field sensors, cameras, radar,forecasting models and direct communication with field personnel, the TI meteorologistpopulates these reports at a high frequency for UDOT’s TI outlets. UDOT also plans to initiate acitizen reporting program in the near future.Transportation Outcome(s): The TI Weather program has improved UDOT’s level of service forpublic information. It has contributed to increased road weather awareness among media andpublic in Utah as they begin to understand the difference between “sensible” weather and roadweather. For example, three inches of snow forecast to accumulate on grassy terrain may ormay not translate to travel impacts, depending on road temperature, precipitation intensity,mitigation strategies, and so forth. It is assumed a road weather-savvy public will make moreinformed travel decisions before, during and after storms. Safer travel and increased roadcapacity during storms is an anticipated outcome.Communications technology has greatly increased the ability for information to be disseminatedto the public in real-time, and as a result, UDOT’s road condition reports are more visible thanprior technology would have enabled. Hourly updates satisfy a public need for this importantsafety information.At less than $140,000 per year, the cost of providing this service is relatively minimal for theimportant public service. UDOT has found that human-powered forecasts and road conditionreports are produced at a much lower cost than running certain types of road weather models orrelying strictly on automated field devices. Despite the low program cost, the forecasts areproven to be highly accurate, enabled in large part by human interaction in the forecast andobservation processes. The TI meteorologists are removing some burden from themaintenance forecasters, who have been historically been limited to providing only a smallcomponent of public weather needs. This program has been very well received and supportedin UDOT.Implementation Issues: Basic software development was required to support the system. Localmeteorologists with Bachelor’s degrees were recruited for the positions.Contact(s):• Leigh Jones Sturges, Utah DOT Traffic Management Division, Weather Operations &RWIS Manager, 801-887-3735, leighsturges@utah.gov• Lisa Miller, Utah DOT Traffic Management Division, Traveler Information Manager/PIO,801-887-3761, lisamiller@utah.govReference(s):• TI Weather products available at • Jones, L., G. Merrill, K. Barjenbruch, R. Graham, “Innovations in Impact-BasedWintertime Road Weather Warnings in Utah,” 1 st Conference on Weather Warnings and78
Best Practices for Road Weather ManagementVersion 3.0Communication, Oklahoma City, June 2011, available atKeywords: traveler information, road weather, RWIS, forecast, 511, website, smartphone app79
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