Rogers adds 16 routes to IDrive Arkansas site
by February 14, 2019 1:52 pm 500 views
The city of Rogers recently added 16 routes to state website IDriveArkansas.com that shows the conditions of roads impacted by winter weather, and Rogers is the second city to partner with the Arkansas Department of Transportation (ArDOT) on a pilot program to show the road conditions.
Conway was the first to join the program, and it has worked well for the city, said Ben Cline, public relations specialist for Rogers. It has been working with ArDOT since summer 2018 on the program after seeing the capabilities of the website.
The website shows the road condition and what’s covering it, such as snow, ice or slush, Cline said. Officers of the Rogers Police Department who drive the roads give condition reports to 911 dispatchers, and they use the information to update the condition on the website. Cline said the program comes at no cost to the city, and the updates don’t increase the workload of city employees.
Some of the city streets in the 16 routes include West New Hope Road, between South 52nd Street/South Pinnacle Hills Parkway and Eighth Street; West Pleasant Grove Road, between South Rainbow Road and First Street; and South Dixieland Road, between West Hudson Road and Oakwood Avenue.
IDrive Arkansas also shows road conditions of primary highways throughout Arkansas, and ArDOT is working to place less traveled highways on the website, said Danny Straessle, public information officer for ArDOT. Along with roads impacted by winter weather, the website shows live traffic data for many major cities streets and highways throughout the state, highway construction information and live video of traffic along primary highways.
ArDOT has more than 150 cameras across the state showing the live video, and in 2019, it will start a project to add 68 more cameras on Interstate 49, between Bella Vista and Interstate 40, Straessle said. The setup will allow full coverage of the stretch of I-49, as the range of each camera is about a mile, and they will be placed at every other mile.
IDrive Arkansas is also available as a mobile app on the App Store and Google Play.