A high-traffic segment of the Beltway soon will see electronic speed limit signs with speeds that change according to traffic conditions.
The Virginia Department of Transportation has installed cameras and sensors along the stretch of the Outer Loop leading to the Woodrow Wilson Bridge and plans to begin adjusting speed limits there in July during the night, when the agency will be working on constructing the Telegraph Road Interchange.
“The sensors are going to be informing specially trained operators who will also be watching the cameras, so we’ll have a real-time understanding of what’s going on in there,” said VDOT spokesman John Undeland.
The program will cost the agency $3 million over the next two years.
Undeland said the speed limit will never dip lower than 35 miles per hour and that the program is intended to regulate traffic flow when lane closures cause backups and lead to rear-end accidents as drivers slam on their brakes.
The program could be extended into nonpeakdaytime hours if it proves successful, Undeland said.
A 2002 Federal Highway Administration study of variable speed limits in Michigan found some evidence that drivers responded better to the program in nonpeak periods and especially at night.
Virginia State Police will step up highway patrols in the area when the program gets started, and will issue warnings at first, graduating to tickets when drivers become accustomed to the new system, officials said.
VDOT also is setting up highway signs that will give the public travel time estimates to nearby interchanges.
