MAHONING COUNTY Road monitoring system goes up for final approval

The system will monitor atmospheric and pavement conditions.
By BOB JACKSON
VINDICATOR COURTHOUSE REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- A state-of-the-art system for monitoring road conditions in Mahoning County should be up and running within two or three weeks, an official says.
County commissioners were to vote today on agreements with two local cable companies. Marilyn Kenner, chief deputy county engineer, said that's the last step toward getting the system activated.
"Once we have that, we can link it up and get going," Kenner said.
The road weather information equipment has been installed at Western Reserve Road and South Avenue in Boardman Township, Mahoning Avenue and Bailey Road in Jackson Township, and Middletown and Beloit-Snodes roads in Smith Township.
The system uses a combination of sensing devices that collect and gauge information about weather and pavement conditions, Kenner said.
The pavement part of the system monitors factors such as road surface temperatures, wet or dry conditions, precipitation, and in some cases, the presence of chemicals on the driving surface.
Another part of the system will monitor weather conditions such as air temperature, humidity, wind speed and direction, visibility and the type and rate of precipitation.
The above-ground system also includes a video camera for real-time pictures of conditions at the intersections.
Access to data
The information will be routed to a central computer system for analysis and then made available to the engineer's staff, Kenner said.
The cable contracts are necessary so the data can be transferred to the engineer's office on Industrial Road, on the city's West Side, Kenner said.
She said the public can look at the information through links on Web sites for the county, the Eastgate Regional Council of Governments, or the Ohio Department of Transportation.
Time Warner Cable would provide the Internet service to link the Jackson Township site to the engineer's office at a cost of $1,427.40 per year. The Boardman site would be serviced by Armstrong Cable at a cost of $1,199.40 per year.
Kenner said there is no high-speed Internet service available for the Smith Township site. That information will be transmitted via a slower computer modem, so it will include the statistical data but no video images.
The system is identical to one operated by ODOT on state roads, including sites on Interstate 76 and state Route 11 in Mahoning County.
bjackson@vindy.com