State Route 8 near Howe Avenue in Akron is one of the sites selected for a new system the state is installing to detect traffic congestion and warn drivers of slowdowns on the road ahead.
The new warning system is one of 13 to be installed at highway sites in and around major urban centers identified by the Ohio Department of Transportation as high-congestion, high-crash areas.
Whenever cameras at the site detect slow or stopped traffic, they will automatically trigger a message board a few miles away to alert drivers to the upcoming traffic hazard.
Alerts will also be pushed to OHGO and other traffic apps.
The new warning systems are geared to reduce deadly “end-of-queue” crashes that happen when drivers don’t recognize slowing or stopped traffic and a collision with vehicles at the end of the slow-down results.
ODOT stated end-of-queue highway crashes increased over the past three years to 8,811 in 2023. Once the detection systems are installed at all 13 sites, the state anticipates it will help reduce rear-end crashes by at least 16%, or about 1,400 crashes.
The first system was activated Thursday on state Route 310 in Licking County, near the site of the rear-end crash involving a charter bus carrying students from the Tuscarawas Valley Local School District.
The system for Route 8 will be installed after it’s designed for the site and a contractor is selected to do the work, a spokesman for ODOT said.
