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Suncoast Pasco News

Signs To Light Up U.S. 19

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BY CARL ORTH

SUNCOAST NEWS ASSISTANT EDITOR

Published: June 28, 2008

PORT RICHEY - PORT RICHEY - Electronic message boards could soon flash alerts to drivers on northbound and southbound U.S. 19 near Ridge Road.

"The signal system is fully operational," said Kristen Carson, spokeswoman for the District 7 office of Florida Department of Transportation, in Tampa.

DOT officials would like to see the signs ready in the event of an evacuation this hurricane season, Carson noted. The signs also are intended to advise motorists about accidents, detours or special events that might slow traffic through one of the county's busiest intersections.

The contractor has finished wiring the huge overhead signs and stringing fiber optic cables to the control room. The Pasco County traffic operations division will control the message boards from an office at the West Pasco Government Center, on Little Road.

Before the signs are fully operational, "The items left to do include waiting on some software to be installed and a training session," Carson noted.

The dynamic message signs, as DOT calls the devices, are part of the Integrated Traffic System. ITS includes coordinated traffic signals, closed-circuit cameras, vehicle detectors and more, all interconnected via fiber-optic cables.

"Most of the ITS devices have been integrated and are working, especially the new signal timing," Carson pointed out.

The alphabet-soup acronym for the traffic signals is SCATS - Signal Controllers With Adaptive Timing Software. In other words, the signals have many computer timing programs from which to choose based on traffic conditions. Each signal talks to the other signals.

A training session hasn't been scheduled as yet at the county traffic control room, Bob Reck, Pasco's traffic operations manager, said this week.

Part of the upgrades by the state will be a 65-inch Sharp Aquos LCD TV monitor for the county control room, Reck said.

Carl Orth can be reached at 727-815-1068 or corth@suncoastnews.com.

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