Columbus initiates snow hauling plan for the first time since 2008
Columbus snow plows push snow to the center of the road, then Franklin County trucks haul the snow to the parking lot at McCoy Park.
It’s been a wild week for transportation in central Ohio. Franklin County experienced its first-ever Level 3 snow emergency limiting road travel to emergency personnel only. Schools were closed. Flights were canceled and delayed. Streets were buried under about a foot of snow and ice.
The daily commute, which is normally almost invisible or at least unremarkable, was a massive undertaking this week. After so much fretting over how anyone is going to get anywhere, you might be tired of hearing about snow and roads. That’s OK, Getting There has some non-snow-related transportation news to share with you.
So, grab that hot cocoa, lean back in your recliner and I’ll tell you about a new technology on which Honda and ODOT have been working.
Honda and ODOT team up for new road maintenance technology
Japanese car manufacturer Honda recently wrapped up a two-year pilot with DriveOhio, the smart mobility hub of the Ohio Department of Transportation, to try out the Honda Proactive Roadway Maintenance System in Ohio.
This system uses real-time data taken from special test vehicles equipped with advanced vision and LiDAR sensors to “automatically detect and report road deficiencies such as potholes, faded lane markings, and damaged roadside assets,” according to Honda.
“Automated detection could save ODOT more than $4.5 million annually through less manual inspection time, optimized maintenance schedules, and prevention of costly deferred repairs through proactive inspection,” according to a Honda news release.
The test vehicles covered around 3,000 miles and achieved 99% accuracy for detecting damaged or obstructed signs, 93% accuracy for damaged guard rails and 89% accuracy for potholes.
This road-scanning technology could come to Honda vehicles in the future as the company aims “to empower its customers to contribute to safer, better roads through anonymized data sharing from their vehicles,” Honda said in the news release.
Parsons, i-Probe Inc. and the University of Cincinnati also teamed up with Honda and ODOT on the project.
If you’re a regular Getting There reader, you might be expecting a bit here about upcoming ODOT construction projects you should look out for. I don’t have any to share this week because it’s the middle of winter and construction crews aren’t out on the roads.
Rest assured, they’ll be back out there once the weather warms up.
Transportation and neighborhoods reporter Nathan Hart can be reached at [email protected], @NathanRHart on X and nathanhart.dispatch.com on Bluesky.
link