Connecticut's Expanding Incident Management System

Motorists traveling in Connecticut may have seen large 70-foot tall metal poles along side major highways and have seen large electronic signs but do not know what their purpose is. 

The objective of this paper is to discuss the Incident Management Program’s implementation into southeastern Connecticut specifically helping motorists on and near Interstate 395, Interstate 95, Route 9, Route 2, Route 1, Route 184, Route 82, Route 85, Route 161, Route 156, and Route 154. 

Such incident management programs have already been used in the Stamford-Bridgeport area, Hartford region, and New Haven vicinity. 

23 closed circuit television cameras have already been installed in locations on Interstate 95 and Interstate 395, the DOT reports, and they hope to have these cameras functional in Fall 2006. 

The purpose of the cameras is to alert DOT and state police when problems arise and can pivot back and forth and zoom in on a problem. 

The video is fed into communication boxes along the highway which are connected to a central monitoring system which has video feeds at a Bridgeport office. 

There, DOT employees watch conditions and can control the movement of each individual camera. 

The DOT plans to have video from the cameras available to the public so they can take alternate routes during heavy traffic volume periods. 

Television and radio stations in Connecticut will have the ability to hook into this network and watch these cameras while the footage will also be made available at the DOT website, www.ct.gov/dot. 

Connecticut drivers have the capability already of seeing footage of cameras installed on I-95 from Greenwich to Norwalk, I-95 Westport to Stratford, I-95 Milford to Branford, I-84 Tolland to Plainville, I-91 Windsor to Cromwell, and Route 2 East Hartford to Glastonbury. 

Their implementation has led to emergency workers getting to accident scenes quicker, reduces traffic problems by alerting drivers to take alternate routes, or to delay unnecessary travel until an accident is cleared.