ODOT Highway Signs To Be Activated Soon In Tulsa

ODOT plans to light up its overhead highway signs in Tulsa soon, with information about traffic delays and travel times. ODOT has spent $10 million to build a system that gathers information about traffic flow, but it's only been available for the public through a website.

That's changing soon - with the information going up on overhead signs.

Those giant signs over the highway are almost always dark. ODOT has the ability to put up messages for drivers - but rarely does. The exception is the occasional Amber Alert, or Silver Alert, when the instant message gets in front of thousands of drivers.

Soon - that's going to expand to include messages about lane closures - or tie ups. It's already being done in Oklahoma City.

When ODOT turns on the system here in Tulsa - about a dozen signs around town will display real time traffic flow information for drivers coming into the city.

That's because most of the signs face inbound traffic.

ODOT has a total of 19 signs in Tulsa, at 15 sites - a few of them face both directions. Most of the signs are on the edges of the city, where traffic is concentrated on the highways.

There's plenty of traffic going past those signs, potentially into backups that drivers would like to avoid. The signs can show average speeds ahead or tell drivers to take a certain exit.

But for now, they don't display anything about traffic, or construction delays.

ODOT is testing the system in Oklahoma City, but plans to roll it out in Tulsa within two months.

They already display the traffic tie ups and messages on their website, where they have traffic cameras as well.