A project to keep drivers better informed of road conditions is in the works thanks to a new federal grant that is expanding how roadway information is shared on apps.
The North Carolina Department of Transportation received a $1.5 million grant that aims to make driving safer by alerting travelers to slow down, stop, or change lanes while moving through work zones, according to Andrew Barksdale with NCDOT.
The project, funded by the Bipartisan Infrastucture Law announced Tuesday, falls under the law's new Strengthening Mobility and Revolutionizing Transportation grant program, called SMART, transportation officials said in a news release.
NCDOT's Mobiltiy and Safety Division will be able to expand the real-time traveler alert system to send notifications to smartphones, navigation apps and other technologies. The department has partnered with popular traveler apps, such as Waze, Google Maps and Apple Maps to help update road conditions.
Currently, the NCDOT is sending alerts to commercial truck drivers about slow traffic ahead on a small scale, but the agency plans to reach more drivers by next year.
The first two work zones to be included in this project are the I-95 widening around Lumberton and Fayettville and the I-40 construction in Haywood County, west of Asheville. These sites were selected due to the extensive work zones in the area, according to a news release from NCDOT.
The total project cost, including in-kind labor, primarily from NCDOT, is nearly $2 million. NCDOT includes plans of sending traveler alerts directly to connected and autonomous vehicles in the future.
The project will not affect the NCDOT's mobile-friendly website for travelers, DriveNC.gov, which will function the same for the public.