The use of thermal detection cameras to spot wrong-way vehicles on freeway off-ramps along Phoenix-area freeways will continue to grow, especially after the cameras have worked well as part of a pilot project along Interstate 17. 

As one example, you can look ahead to significant stretches of Loop 101 currently being widened to also have the thermal camera wrong-way vehicle alert technology added.

ADOT began operating the I-17 alert system in January 2018 along the 15-mile stretch of the Black Canyon Freeway between the I-10 “Stack” interchange near downtown and the Loop 101 interchange in the north Valley.

Thermal cameras were the key components installed to detect wrong way vehicles and immediately alert both ADOT and the Arizona Department of Public Safety so troopers can respond faster than waiting for 911 calls and operators in the ADOT Traffic Operations Center can quickly post warning messages for other drivers with just the push of a button.

ADOT’s I-17 system, a first-in-the-nation effort, was designed to reduce the risks created by often-impaired wrong-way drivers. Our assessment found the thermal cameras are very reliable in detecting those vehicles. 

ADOT’s look at data from the I-17 project shows more than 100 wrong-way drivers set off alerts when thermal cameras detected their vehicles. More than 85 percent of the drivers made a self-correcting turn on an exit ramp without entering the freeway. The I-17 system includes specialized background-illuminated signs along off-ramps that light up toward a potential wrong-way driver in an effort to get that driver’s attention.

While the I-17 system went through testing, ADOT converted thermal cameras already in use for traffic signal timing so they also can detect wrong-way vehicles. Cameras at Loop 101 interchanges between 59th Avenue and Bell Road in the northwest Valley were among those set for such detections.

The majority of interchanges along the new Loop 202 South Mountain Freeway have thermal cameras set up to send wrong-way vehicle alerts to ADOT and AZDPS. Wrong-way vehicle technology projects are underway along Loop 303 from I-10 in the West Valley on up to the I-17 interchange in north Phoenix. 

Thermal cameras also will be in place at off-ramps along the Loop 101 Price Freeway between Baseline Road and Loop 202 in Chandler and the Loop 101 Pima Freeway between I-17 and Princess Drive in the north Valley. The wrong-way vehicle alert technology was added to the ongoing widening projects taking place in those areas.

ADOT will pursue opportunities to deploy thermal cameras along other Valley freeways as well as state highways, starting with rural interstates, as funding and necessary fiber-optic infrastructure become available. ADOT’s assessment of the I-17 pilot system also recommends installing the illuminated, flashing “Wrong Way” signs at urban locations as funding allows.

While we will continue to stress that technology can’t keep a wrong-way driver from getting behind the wheel, nor can it physically prevent a crash, it continues to show that it is an important tool to use to alert law enforcement and warn other freeway drivers when a wrong-way vehicle is detected.

Efforts to reduce the risk of crashes caused by often-impaired wrong-way drivers involve a variety of countermeasures. They include increasing the size and visibility of wrong-way signs at state highway interchanges.

Those upgrades received a major boost in the form of a $2.1 million project to install new larger wrong way signage at more than 140 interchanges, along with other improvements, along several Phoenix-area freeways.

If you drive in the area, you’re much more likely to notice the larger “Wrong Way” and “Do Not Enter” signs at the top of freeway off-ramps in the Valley. Not only are they bigger, they also represent updated national standards by being located lower to the ground and thus hopefully more in line with a driver’s line of vision. Yes, that’s about making them easier to see so that a wrong-way driver might not travel down that off-ramp. You can see some of the new signs in the slideshow to the right.

The signs along exit ramps are not the only changes that crews, working mostly at night, made as part of this project. They also added many more of the large, white arrows that are located on the pavement of exit ramps. Those arrows point in the “right” direction of travel, as another measure designed to get the attention of a driver heading the wrong-way.

One other upgrade was the installation of dozens of large “Wrong Way” signs, measuring 5 feet by 8 feet, installed above the left lanes of freeways. They’re on the backs of bridges and other overhead structures and you, traveling the right way, may have noticed a few of them if you’ve glanced to the left across the median.

Those noticeable signs, facing in the wrong direction, are above the freeway left lanes because wrong-way drivers tend to travel in those lanes. More than two dozen of these signs were first installed along I-17 in Phoenix in 2017 in association with ADOT’s first-in-the-nation thermal camera wrong-way vehicle alert system.

ADOT has been installing larger and more visible wrong way signs not only along Phoenix-area freeways but also at highway interchanges across the state over the last several years.

This particular project has focused on sections of interstates 10 and 17, US 60 (Superstition Freeway) and Loop 202 (Santan Freeway) in the East Valley, State Route 51 as well as Loop 101 (Agua Fria Freeway) and Loop 303 in the West Valley.

It remains important to note that more noticeable signs and other countermeasures we’ve mentioned can’t prevent someone, especially someone who’s impaired, from getting behind the wheel and becoming a wrong-way driver. The signs are big. But stopping impaired driving would make a life-saving difference in an even bigger way. That’s something to keep in mind as we head into the holiday travel season. 

They say virtue is its own award. We would say that helping everyone get home safely after a hard day's work, a weekend escape or a night out is also its own award.

But occasionally we are recognized for doing just that.

Such is the case for our first-in-the-nation wrong-way vehicle alert system, which recently was named a winner of a 2019 National Roadway Safety Award. The Federal Highway Administration and Roadway Safety Foundation give the award in recognition of roadway safety achievements that move the country toward having zero driving fatalities or serious injuries on the nation's roads. The wrong-way vehicle alert system joins six other projects from across the country that received this recognition.

Accepting the award in the picture at the right is Derek Arnson from ADOT's Traffic Management Group. With him are, at left, Tom Everett, executive director of the Federal Highway Administration, and Gregory Cohen, executive director of the Roadway Safety Foundation. 

The $4 million wrong-way vehicle alert system installed along 15 miles of I-17 uses thermal cameras to detect and track wrong-way vehicles. It also immediately alerts ADOT and the Arizona Department of Public Safety. This can save state troopers valuable time in responding to incidents rather than waiting for 911 calls from other motorists, while also allowing ADOT to quickly alert other drivers via overhead message boards.

Since ADOT installed it in early 2018, the I-17 system has detected more than 90 wrong-way drivers, nearly all of whom turned around on off-ramps. 

The system’s 90 thermal cameras are positioned to detect wrong-way vehicles entering off-ramps or traveling along I-17. A detection also triggers an internally illuminated wrong-way sign with flashing red lights aimed at getting the attention of wrong-way drivers.

ADOT is completing an evaluation of the I-17 system to determine which elements should be used on other freeways.

For more information on the award, please visit RoadwaySafety.org

There’s no single, engineering solution to solving wrong-way drivers. That hasn’t stopped ADOT from constructing, installing, implementing and engaging in a variety of countermeasures aimed at making our highways safer.

Earlier this week, one of those efforts was recognized when the Phoenix Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America awarded ADOT with a Copper Anvil Award for our “Drive Aware, Get There” safety campaign. This is a significant honor, awarded to only the top tactics and campaigns, and calls out a major contribution to a public relations achievement with a strategic approach.

Though wrong-way crashes account for a fraction of all collisions that occur – when they do occur, it’s almost always because the driver was impaired – they result in fatalities at a rate higher than other crashes. Through PSAs that air on television and radio, news releases, a webpage, social media components and more, “Drive Aware, Get There” helps motorists minimize the risk of being in a crash with a wrong-way driver. The campaign details what drivers should do if they encounter a wrong-way vehicle, see an overhead sign warning of an oncoming wrong-way vehicle and general tips that will keep drivers safer at night, when most wrong-way crashes occur.

No one can solve wrong-way driving through a safety campaign alone, but ADOT’s efforts have helped educate drivers so they can make better decisions when driving. And we will continue to do all we can so that drivers have the best information to stay safe on Arizona’s roads.

When ADOT is alerted to a wrong-way vehicle on the state highway system – via the pilot project thermal camera detection system or a 911 call – a number of safety countermeasures occur immediately.

One of those things is the activation of overhead message boards with a message that warns of an oncoming wrong-way vehicle. Perhaps you’ve seen the message, which reads, “Wrong-way driver ahead, exit freeway.”

If you see this message, heed its warning and safely take the next exit. While we can’t provide a standard answer for how long to avoid getting back on that stretch of highway because every incident is different, the safest option is to use an alternate route.

If you encounter a wrong-way driver, slow down by easing your foot off the gas. Make sure there’s no vehicle next to you and steer away from the wrong-way driver. Get to a safe place, call 911 and report the wrong-way driver.

More information about avoiding wrong-way drivers as part of the “Drive Aware, Get There” safety campaign is available at azdot.gov/wrongway.

By Doug Pacey / ADOT Communications

Tell someone you work at the Arizona Department of Transportation and you’re bound to hear a story or two or an earful about a personal experience with highways, the MVD or those weird safety messages. These anecdotes often come at the most unexpected times.

That was the case Friday morning when I stopped at a drive-thru coffee stand across the street from Arizona State University’s Tempe campus. Making small talk with a young woman working there, she asked where I worked. When I told her, “ADOT,” her eyes widened and she excitedly told me how on her drive to work that morning on Interstate 17 she saw an overhead message board switch from displaying travel times to warning of an oncoming wrong-way driver. She’d never seen that before, she said, and immediately took the next exit where she saw a few police cruisers entering the highway.

We talked about the year-old thermal camera wrong-way detection system on I-17 and how it works, alerting law enforcement and other drivers to wrong-way vehicles. In fact, the system detected two wrong-way vehicles entering I-17 that morning. The first came at 3:15 a.m. at McDowell Road and the other at 4:29 a.m. at Dunlap Avenue. Both vehicles appeared to have self-corrected on the ramp before reaching the mainline.

She wondered, though, why so many other vehicles didn’t exit the highway when the message displayed. It’s a good question and conversations like this tell us a few things. First, we still have more work to do promoting the “Drive Aware, Get There” safety campaign geared toward helping people avoid wrong-way drivers. Second, the work we do to make highways safer affects every one of us, often when we least expect it. Know that we’ll continue to seek out countermeasures that will help reduce the number of traffic fatalities and serious injuries that occur each year.