LEE'S SUMMIT, Mo. - More signs of Kansas City Scout - the metropolitan area's traffic
management system currently under construction - are showing up along the highways.
The Missouri Department of Transportation is placing informational highway signs
along select construction areas where crews are installing the Scout system. The
new signs feature the Scout logo and MoDOT's local customer service phone number.
“The idea is to put Scout's name front and center - to build name recognition and
promote awareness of the project,” says Operations Manager Ray Webb. “It's also
a good way for the public to track the project's progress. Drivers can see construction
going on in areas designated with Scout signs and we hope they'll relate that work
to the project.”
Scout uses technology such as closed-circuit cameras, electronic message boards
and roadway sensors to monitor and manage traffic on local freeways. The project
has been under construction since late last summer when crews began laying 90 miles
of fiber-optic cable throughout the metro area - leaving colorful conduit poking
up from under the roadsides.
Now contractors are gearing up to place major components of the Scout system, such
as 45-foot tall camera poles and 25-foot wide electronic message boards, along portions
of Interstate 435 from the Triangle to I-35 in Kansas. That work will begin this
fall and continue until next summer.
“This is a good time to let the commuting public know that the new construction
and new highway structures they're seeing are part of the Scout system,” said Webb.
“If drivers aren't already familiar with Scout, they can call the phone number and
find out more.”
In July, crews laid nearly 400 traffic sensors along that same I-435 corridor where
cameras and message boards will soon go up. The entire 75-mile Scout system should
be fully operational by the end of 2003.