ALDOT awarded $2 million to help with U.S. 280 project

The Alabama Department of Transportation (ALDOT) will soon receive outside assistance with its project to increase travel time along U.S. 280.

According to a release by the U.S. Transportation Department (USDOT), the 280 project is one of 14 across the nation to be awarded a Federal Highway Administration's (FHWA) Highways for LIFE grant in 2013.

The release states ALDOT’s grant of $2 million is to be used for “Traffic operations and management at intersections along U.S. 280” in Jefferson and Shelby Counties.

USDOT reports it chose the U.S. 280 improvement project for its combination of traditional strategies – physically reformatting intersections – with integration of a “newly installed adaptive signal control technology.”

The new traffic signal system on the corridor is the Sydney Coordinated Adaptive Traffic System (SCATS). Installed in 2012, SCATS uses an adaptive computer system and cameras to reduce delays on the highway by adapting to fluctuations in traffic.

“The principal purpose of the control system is to minimize overall stops and delay and, when traffic demand is at or near the capacity of the system, to maximize that capacity and minimize the possibility of traffic jams by controlling the formation of queues,” SACTS website scats.com.au reads.

Introduction of the new system was met with local criticism, as multiple reports surfaced of commute times increasing as wait-time durations on side streets went up.

Earlier this year, ALDOT Division 3 Engineer Brian Davis said the SCATS system was bid out before the proposal to alter intersections was introduced, and the two were not modeled together. However, Davis added he anticipates once the intersection project is complete, the two will work together to further reduce drive times on 280.

ALDOT’s intersection improvement project, which includes alterations to 27 intersections along the corridor from Hollywood Boulevard to Hugh Daniel Drive, began in May. Davis said Dunn Construction and Apac Mid-South, Inc. were awarded the project in April on a joint bid of $15.6 million.

These companies have been offered a $10,000 bonus of per day for each day before Aug. 5 the section between Cherokee Road and Green Valley Road is complete. ALDOT will charge the companies that amount for each day they are late.

For the entire project, contractors will receive a $50,000 bonus per day for each day the project is finished ahead of the November 27 deadline. They will also be charged that amount for each day they extend beyond.

The project includes the removal of multiple traffic signals and median crossings along the nine-mile stretch and will require drivers entering from side streets to perform U-turns in many locations. ALDOT believes this reduction in the number of impediments to traffic flow will increase speeds and decrease travel times.

ALDOT did not return a request for comment before deadline, and it is unclear at this time if the organization will apply the grant toward the intersection project’s tentative $15.6 million cost. The initial estimate for the project, presented in November 2012, was $12-$15 million.