VTrans to pilot activated wrong‑way detection signs at Exit 17; installation planned for spring 2026
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Summary
Agency of Transportation told the House Transportation Committee it will pilot activated wrong‑way vehicle detection and flashing signage at the Exit 17 interchange on I‑89 in spring 2026 to test costs, maintenance needs and data integration with law enforcement.
The Agency of Transportation presented a plan to pilot activated wrong‑way driving detection at the Exit 17 interchange on Interstate 89, with installation anticipated in spring 2026.
"My name for the record is Jesse Devlin, and I am the manager of the safe system section at the Agency of Transportation," Devlin told the committee. He said wrong‑way driving comprises a small share of fatal and serious‑injury crashes in Vermont but often results in higher‑severity, head‑on collisions; many incidents are unreported because drivers self‑correct.
Devlin outlined three countermeasure categories: improved passive signage, activated detection signage that illuminates flashing warnings when a vehicle is detected driving the wrong way, and infrastructure changes (ramp alignment, pavement markings or median work) to make wrong‑way entries difficult. He said VTrans installed enhanced wrong‑way signage and retroreflective tape in 2019 on certain exit ramps and will test activated signage at Exit 17 to collect more complete data and to evaluate installation and lifecycle costs.
Costs are nontrivial: Devlin cited per‑system installation costs in other New England deployments of $75,000 to $100,000, with annual maintenance ranging from $4,500 to $17,500. He said the Exit 17 work is funded within a larger federally funded interstate bridge project (100% federal funds) and that the project would cover early maintenance; long‑term upkeep would likely transition to VTrans maintenance budgets after initial years.
The pilot will also test vendor calibration and annual verification procedures needed to ensure activated systems function correctly; Devlin noted those tests can require temporary ramp closures and coordination with vendors and traffic control. He described data advantages of activated systems, saying they can capture previously unreported self‑correcting wrong‑way events and can integrate with law enforcement reporting systems. The pilot’s findings will inform whether to scale installations, what maintenance contracts would be required, and how to prioritize other candidate locations.
Committee members asked about lower‑cost alternatives such as continuously flashing beacons. Devlin acknowledged those options but said they provide less data and may face power or winter‑reliability issues in some locations; the Exit 17 site benefits from an available power source. Law enforcement notification functionality is available with the activated systems, and VTrans will coordinate with agencies on how that would be used and tested.
The committee did not vote; members said they welcomed the pilot to gather real‑world data before considering wider deployments.
