5/3/2010
Two large highway readerboards in eastern Idaho to be activated late this month
RIGBY - Crews will activate two large highway readerboards in eastern Idaho - near Pocatello and the Bingham-Bonneville county line - late this month, the Idaho Transportation Department (ITD) announced.
The two large electronic message boards are near Applebee's restaurant on northbound Interstate 15 in Pocatello and half-a-mile north of the Bingham-Bonneville county line on northbound I-15 in Bonneville County.
ITD will test the dynamic message signs (DMSs) for 90 days, after which the signs will post messages on road conditions, traffic flow and AMBER Alerts. It's part of an ongoing safety program to better inform the traveling public.
ITD plans to activate four other DMSs installed during the last several months in eastern Idaho by August.
These four readerboards are on southbound I-15 a couple of miles prior to its junction with Interstate 86, eastbound I-86 a couple of miles prior to its junction with I-15, northbound I-15 a couple of miles prior to the Sage Junction exit, and northbound U.S. 20 a couple of miles prior to the south Rexburg exit.
The electronic signs are designed to improve traffic safety and emergency response for through and local traffic alike.
The new readerboards are similar to the one installed last year and put into operation on southbound I-15 south of Idaho Falls. ITD has installed 34 such electronic boards statewide and will install 12 more this year.
Wheeler Electric, Inc. of Idaho Falls was the general contractor for the eastern Idaho installation project.
The large signs include a concrete foundation, pole and cantilever structure, communications cabinet, protective guardrail and the message board. The boards are 8-feet-tall by 25-feet-wide by 4-feet-deep and weigh 4,000 pounds. Fitted with economical light-emitting diodes (LEDs) lights, the boards display 18-inch-tall characters in amber, such as can be read at 1,100 feet.
ITD installed its first electronic sign in eastern Idaho on northbound I-15 near Dubois in the late 1990s. This sign is now obsolete. In addition, the department installed a DMS on Idaho Highway 33 at Butte City in the early 2000s.
ITD owns two signs in northern Utah, one on northbound I-15 near Tremonton and one on northbound Interstate 84 near Snowville just before the Utah-Idaho border, each to notify motorists of conditions on I-84 in southern Idaho that can be treacherous during winter months. Both Utah signs are being replaced this year as part of the current DMS project and will be activated later this month.
DMS installation and testing are being coordinated by Mark Blackshaw, who is an Intelligent Transportation Systems engineer in ITD's Mobility Services Department in Boise.