UDOT fits snowplows with V2X radios to request green lights as statewide rollout expands

Grant Potter, a videographer for the Utah Department of Transportation, said UDOT is equipping snowplows with vehicle-to-infrastructure technology that lets plows request green lights at intersections to clear roads faster and reduce hazards.

The technology, known as signal preemption, uses onboard units, or OBUs, inside snowplows and roadside units, or RSUs, mounted at traffic signals. Traffic Operations Center staff member Blaine Leonard said about 100 snowplows in Regions 2 and 3 currently have OBUs and that the system lets a plow ‘‘request a green light’’ as it approaches an intersection so the driver can keep moving and focus on plowing.

"We put these radios, we call them onboard units, OBUs, in a number of our snowplows. I think we currently have about a hundred snowplows in Regions 2 and 3 and that allows these plows to be able to request a green light," Leonard said. "That keeps plows moving, makes their plowing easier and faster, gets the snow and ice off the road more quickly, so it's safer for our motorists."

Maintenance technician Nathan Jackson described the operational benefit from the driver's perspective: "We are out before, during, and after the storm, trying to keep the roads safe the best that we can for the traveling public." Grant Potter noted that UDOT already uses signal priority for some bus routes, including the OGX line, and raised the question of extending similar priority to plows.

An Orem maintenance crew member who showed an installation credited contractor Narwhal Group with the current push to expand preemption. "Today, we're getting some preemption put in there by the Narwhal Group. They are installing some technologies that can help us ... get through a lot of my area with some signal light preemption," the crew member said. The crew member added that the change is significant for operations: "The preemption technology, it is the most amazing thing that's ever happened since I've been here ... preemption makes our job night day different."

UDOT's videographer said Narwhal crews were installing RSUs "at over 300 more intersections across the state, from Logan to Saint George." Speakers in the recording tied the technology to multiple expected benefits: faster and smoother plow travel through signalized intersections, improved transit on-time performance where bus signal priority is already used, and an overall safety gain as crews clear snow and ice more quickly. "In the long run, this technology is meant to save lives," one speaker said.

The recording did not specify a timetable for equipping additional snowplows beyond the roughly 100 OBUs already in Regions 2 and 3, nor did it give a contract value or a precise map of the 300+ intersections being fitted with RSUs. Grant Potter said he planned to check back with Leonard for further details and to post follow-up video on UDOT's YouTube channel.

While speakers described operational improvements and a statewide RSU installation campaign, the recording did not include formal approvals, budgets, or votes by a governing body; it was an informational video by UDOT staff and contractors describing ongoing equipment installations and early operational experience.