News 6 has been reporting on the lack of a Wrong-Way Vehicle Detection System (WWVDS) even before the first Express Lane head-on wreck last year, and now the system is finally in place at some I-4 Express Lane direct-connect ramps.
The Florida Department of Transportation had posted patrol cars at the direct-connect ramps for the past year while it worked to speed up installation of the WWVDS.
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Cameras, sensors and lights are all finally in place — at least at the South Street direct-connect exit from the I-4 Express Lanes.
The WWVDS works by flashing red lights and notifying troopers instantly when the sensors and cameras detect a car going the wrong way onto the ramp. The successful system has been in place for years on State Routes 417 and 408 and other I-4 general lane entrances.
But FDOT has been concerned about head-on crashes in the I-4 Express Lanes since they first opened last February with nothing more than some non-lighted wrong way signs and pavement markings.
And surely enough, just days after the lanes opened, it happened.
Driver Maurice Turrell told News 6 right after his wrong-way crash on I-4 that he probably got into the Express Lanes using a direct-connect ramp.
There are four direct-connect ramps from Orlando to Altamonte Springs — direct routes connecting the Express Lanes to local roads without requiring drivers to travel through the I-4 free lanes.
The ramps are extremely efficient but also extremely dangerous if drivers end up going the wrong way.
After News 6 started reporting on the potential danger, FDOT sped up its timeline by a year and started installing the WWVDS systems last year, finishing South Street first.
FDOT spokesperson Cindi Lane said the other three direct-connect ramps at Grand National, Ivanhoe and Central Parkway will be done by the spring of 2023.
“Additional I-4 WWVDS technology installation and testing is planned for Grand National Drive, Ivanhoe Boulevard and Central Parkway as part of the first phase,” Lane said. “It is our hope to have those in place by the Spring, which is well ahead of schedule. Safety is FDOT’s highest priority, and we have added pavement markers and signage and will continue to do all we can to make it as safe as possible.”
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