TxDot Officials Installing Crash-Preventing, Early-Detection Devices Along I-35

State transportation officials next month will begin installing three devices along Interstate 35 intended to warn overheight vehicles to exit the highway before hitting the overhead bridge.

Texas Department of Transportation officials disclosed the plans on Thursday. The bridge protection warning system will be installed at three sites along southbound I-35 between Airport Boulevard and Riverside Drive.

The aim is to protect one of the lowest bridges in downtown Austin while keeping traffic moving freely. Traffic typically grinds to a halt after a big rig or other tall vehicle strikes a low bridge, and yields risk to motorists.

The devices act as an early warning for truck traffic, which has increased exponentially along I-35 given the region’s explosive growth. The equipment detects vehicles that are too high to clear the bridge ahead of their approach, and then alerts such drivers to exit the main lanes.

“Anytime there’s a crash on I-35, it can disrupt travel on the interstate for hours,” Terry McCoy, Austin District Engineer, said in a prepared statement. “With this new warning detection system in place, we can now not only do our best to protect our infrastructure, but also to reduce the chance of traffic delays due to a bridge being hit.”

Three of the early-detection devices will be installed just north of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard; south of 11th Street; and at the 6th Street on-ramp to provide drivers ample warning before hitting the Cesar Chavez bridge.

The Texas Department of Transportation will install the detection system at three locations along southbound I-35, including just north of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, just south of 11th Street, and at the 6th Street on-ramp, to provide ample warning to overheight vehicles to prevent the bridge at Cesar Chavez from being hit.

Each location will consist of detectors placed on either side of the interstate. When activated by an overly high vehicle, the devices will transmit signals to roadway signs with beacons to begin to flash.

Additionally, an alert will be sent to TxDOT’s traffic management center and the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles, advising staff of a potential collision.

The $412,000 project was funded by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s Commercial Vehicle Information Systems and Networks grant through the TxDMV.