A VDOT sign along Interstate 66 relays travel time to Interstate 495. (Photo courtesy VDOT)
Visitors to the Historic Triangle will soon find electronic signs along interstates offering travel time information on different routes.
The Virginia Department of Transportation will be stationing portable signs by Memorial Day and permanent signs by Dec. 31 to let travelers know how long they should expect to drive before reaching certain destinations.
The temporary and permanent signs may have slightly different locations.
Temporary sign information and locations include:
- Interstate 295 south before the Interstate 64 interchange to give travel information to Williamsburg along I-64 and Route 60;
- I-64 west before the Route 199/Lightfoot exit (234) to relay travel time to I-295;
- I-64 east near Colonial Downs in New Kent (mile marker 215) indicating travel duration to Williamsburg; and
- I-64 west near Colonial Downs relaying travel information to I-295.
Permanent sign locations have not been determined, but two will likely be stationed on I-64 east on either side of I-295 to relay travel time to Williamsburg, while a third will be placed on I-64 west near the Route 199/Humelsine Parkway exit (242).
“Our goal is to encourage greater use of US-60 to relieve chronic congestion on I-64,” said VDOT spokesperson Jennifer Gwaltney. “There is no ‘preferred’ point of diversion from I-64 to or from US-60.”
Giving drivers options to use alternate routes will allow them to transition between I-64 and Route 60 as they see fit; there are multiple connections between the two roads, which run parallel.
In order to relay travel time, VDOT relies on some data provided by INRIX, a traffic services and information provider. In using INRIX data coupled with other statewide travel time data, VDOT can display current traffic information on its digital signs, Gwaltney said.
With these new signs in place, an expected 15 percent of traffic will move from I-64 to Route 60, which VDOT officials hope will reduce congestion and traffic crashes on the interstate.
The digital sign program was first piloted in 2011 on Interstate 66 near Interstate 495 in Gainesville and on Interstate 95 near Washington, D.C. and Fredericksburg.
In Williamsburg’s surrounding area, digital signs are in place on I-64 near Jefferson Avenue, which display travel time to Virginia Beach and the Outer Banks via the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel on I64 and the Monitor-Merrimac Memorial Bridge-Tunnel on Interstate 664. Gwaltney said tunnel traffic data shows more drivers traveling I-664, which she said is “likely a result of motorists making informed decisions based on the information provided on the travel time signs.”
“We receive comments from both visitors and Hampton Roads residents who rely on the signs to choose their route,” Gwaltney said.