Date:
Tuesday, February 07, 2006
Contact:
Bob Hart, Southwest WA Regional Transportation Council, 360-397-6067 x5206
Chad Hancock, WSDOT Traffic Operations Engineer, 360-905-2240
Ali G. Eghtedari, City of Vancouver Traffic Engineering Manager, 360-696-8290 x8661
Bill Wright, Clark County Public Works, 360-397-6118 ext. 4523
VANCOUVER – Motorists traveling in the Vancouver/Portland metro area now have a great new Internet tool available to obtain comprehensive traveler information from both sides of the river. Over the past two years, the Vancouver Area Smart Trek (VAST) partners have been working to provide a unified, bi-state, one-stop-shopping place for the public to get traveler information on the Web. These efforts recently paid off when the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) made the following improvements to its existing Vancouver area Traveler Information Web pages.
New Comprehensive Vancouver/Portland Traveler Information Web Page
Direct Link: www.wsdot.wa.gov/traffic/vancouver/
WSDOT and the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) partnered to provide Internet users access to traffic cameras, travel alerts and traffic flow maps on both sides of the river from a single Web site. Hundreds of thousands of people travel back and forth between the two states every day using I-5 and I-205, and this new Web page will make getting important bi-state traveler information much simpler.
Links are provided to many Portland area traffic cameras operated by ODOT from this new Web page. In addition, links to traffic flow maps for both states allow users to see how well traffic is moving in real time on major highways and interstates on both sides of the river. The traffic flow map information is gathered using traffic detection equipment and sensors installed in the pavement in both directions of travel. WSDOT plans to finish installing the majority of its traffic detection equipment on the sections of I-5, I-205, SR 14 and SR 500 shown on the Web page by 2010.
WSDOT is also now providing links to new traffic cameras in Clark County not previously available online. Most of the new cameras are owned and operated by either the city of Vancouver or Clark County, and were added to WSDOT’s system with their cooperation. The new traffic cameras provide regularly updated still images of the following locations:
o I-205 at State Route 500 (owned by WSDOT)
o I-205 at Mill Plain east (owned by the city)
o I-205 at Mill Plain west (owned by the city)
o SR 500 at SR 503/117th Avenue (owned by WSDOT)
o Highway 99 at N.E. 78th Street (owned by the county)
o Highway 99 at N.E. 134th Street (owned by the county)
Major City Streets and County Roads Added to WSDOT’s Travel Alerts Web Page
Direct Link: www.wsdot.wa.gov/traffic/trafficalerts/vancouver.aspx
WSDOT has improved the existing Vancouver area Traveler Information Web page to include traffic impacts and closures on major Vancouver city streets and Clark County roads in addition to state highways and interstates. The information posted on the improved Web site includes traffic impacts due to construction or maintenance work, or emergent situations like water main breaks.
VAST is a regional Intelligent Transportation System initiative developed as a cooperative effort by public transportation agencies in Clark County to implement a 20-year Intelligent Transportation System Plan. Lead by the Southwest Washington Regional Transportation Council, the other agencies involved in VAST are the cities of Vancouver and Camas, Clark County, WSDOT, ODOT, the Port of Vancouver, and C-TRAN. For more information about VAST and its regional Intelligent Transportation System Plan, visit this Web page: www.vastrek.org/program.htm.
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