New high-tech center monitors your highway safety

It may look like something out of the latest hi-tech spy movie, but our newly refurbished Traffic Operations Center is wonderfully real. This state-of-the-art electronic data hub is located in Phoenix and allows ADOT staff to keep a watchful eye on traffic conditions around the state.

The TOC is the core traffic communication system for the state. It’s been in operation since 1992 but was in need of a hi-tech overhaul to meet the demands of nearly 7,000 miles of state highways in Arizona.

Funded through the Federal Highway Administration, the TOC upgrade was a yearlong, $2.1 million project.

It will be staffed 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The objective is to help dispatch ADOT crews and other first responders to highway incidents, assist drivers in avoiding congestion and providing information to the public about crashes, closures or other restrictions.

“Our goal is simple: to keep drivers moving safely around the state, whether it’s for their daily commute or on a trip to another region of Arizona,” said Senior Deputy State Engineer Rob Samour. “Because of the modernization of the Traffic Operations Center, we are now among the best in the country for monitoring traffic flow and providing options to drivers when there are problems on our highways.”

Click over to our website az511.gov and view our traffic camera images online anytime of the day or night. And speaking of the website … stay tuned for more changes to come as we are working on a complete overhaul of how we report traffic to our users!