SALT LAKE CITY — Snow plows in Utah are getting an upgrade to increase the efficiency of operations when they're needed during and following snowstorms.
The Utah Department of Transportation is installing vehicle-to-everything (V2X) technology in 100 more of its snowplows around the state.
V2X units are wireless sensors that connect vehicles with infrastructure to allow them to communicate with other plows. According to Transportation Technology Engineer Blaine Leonard, the tech can send a variety of messages including transit signal preemption.
"We currently have about 100 snow plows in Regions 2 and 3 that are equipped with these systems, and that allows these plows when they're plowing snow on our arterials to be able to request a green light called 'Signal Preemption' at the traffic signal that keeps the plows moving makes their plowing easier and faster," he said.
Transit signal preemption is currently used in approximately 100 UDOT plows that allow the vehicles to extend traffic signal green times and change lights from red to green. The new installations will double the number of plows that can automatically send the requests to keep moving.
“Preemption makes a night-and-day difference in our job,” said UDOT snow plow driver Brian Sommer. “If traffic is stopped, we’re stopped. And the roads stay worse the longer we’re in traffic.”
UDOT hopes to use the V2X technology to send safety messages to drivers, such as warnings about work zones, road conditions, or sharp curves.
“In the long run, this technology is meant to save lives,” UDOT Transportation Technology Engineer Blaine Leonard said. “When that happens, we’ll be able to give the driver of a vehicle information about what’s going on and be able to prevent crashes.”
