Wrong-way alert system coming to SWFL

Author: Haley Zarcone Writer: Matias Abril
Published: Updated:

Starting this week, the Florida Department of Transportation will begin adding wrong-way alert systems to roadways across the state.

Those alert systems are being added to major hot spots along Interstate 75 in our Southwest Florida area.

FDOT has the numbers to back it up: 40% of our ramps to interstates in Florida are hotspots for crashes.

Among them are our fair share of wrong-way drivers and calls.

FDOT promises this alert system can detect wrong-way drivers heading on or off I-75.

In real-time, the technology can tell when a car is going to enter the wrong way. It will notify FDOT and trigger lights that flash.

Hopefully, the driver will see those lights and get off the road.

One Lee County driver said this system is needed as soon as possible.

“There’s lots of crashes here with the increase of population, so I do think that would help,” the driver said.

Not only will this new alert system alert the wrong-way driver, but it will also alert oncoming traffic to watch out.

Five 75 interchanges will get this new wrong-way driver warning system: Bayshore Road, Daniels Parkway, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, Luckett Road and RSW.

WINK News and law enforcement have seen too many wrong-way crashes and close calls. It’s a scary feeling to see a car driving directly at you.

“It’s horrible, horrible,” said Glynis Byrne, a driver. “There’s nowhere for anyone to go. If someone’s going towards you, there’s nowhere on the side of the road for you to go to. It’s just, it’s sad.”

The hope is that these new systems won’t allow any of us to know what that feels like.

The state expects to have these alert systems up and running by early 2024.

As they start to install, crews will be out on the ramps to I-75 in the early mornings and into rush hour traffic.

FDOT asks that you keep your eyes on the road and off your phone to prevent you from being the next wrong-way driver.

Copyright ©2024 Fort Myers Broadcasting. All rights reserved.

This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without prior written consent.