A new kind of wrong-way driving detection system is going up right now on Route 28.
It’s a project we have been following for 2 years now at Channel 11 and now we’re getting an exclusive look at how the new system will work.
PennDOT shared video with Channel 11 showing what a driver will see if they go the wrong way, trying to get on Route 28.
“The consequences can be catastrophic, so safety is always our number one priority,” said Steve Sneddon, Senior Assistant Construction Engineer with PennDOT.
PennDOT has told Channel 11 that the number of crashes, coupled with the narrow shoulders, are two reasons they chose Route 28 ramps for the new technology.
They started breaking ground on it in the spring and have already finished a couple of ramps on the 12 interchanges they’re doing from Harmarville to Anderson Street. Those done include Harmarville, RIDC, Blawnox, Fox Chapel, and Delafield.
Crews are working their way North to South on Route 28, putting in the infrastructure for the wrong-way detection system. They let us get an up-close look at the work happening recently on the Sharpsburg off-ramp. They did electrical work and put in some of the poles.
Here’s how the new wrong-way detection system will work: if a car goes the wrong way on the ramp, it triggers a series of flashing lights on wrong-way signs.
“Hopefully that will get the cars’ attention and that will give them the ability to make a correction,” said Sneddon.
If not, a camera will start recording and send a message to PennDOT’s traffic management center and state police. They’ll put out a message on the electronic signs to alert other drivers of the wrong-way driver on Route 28.
“For Pennsylvania, this is kind of our first experience with a system in Southwestern Pennsylvania,” said Sneddon.
The most recent data, from the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission, on wrong-way crashes on Route 28 from 2023, shows 15 crashes in the previous five years.
That has certainly increased as WPXI has reported on more wrong-way crashes since then, including the most recent crash on August 9 on Route 28 where three people were hurt.
PennDOT will continue installing wrong-way signs and the detection system until they get to the off-ramps at Anderson Street in the city of Pittsburgh. It says all wrong-way detection systems will be up and running by next spring.
PennDOT says there is talk about including the wrong way detection system on other highways in the future, but it didn’t give any specifics.
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