GDOT installing first ramp meter signals in Southeast Georgia for I-16/I-95 project

by Joe Hennessy

SAVANNAH, Ga. (WTOC) - Drivers entering Interstate 16 can now see ramp meters, with hoods over them, at Chatham Parkway and State Route 307/Dean Forest Road designed to improve traffic flow onto the major interstate.

Georgia Department of Transportation officials told WTOC that these are the first ramp meters they’ve installed so far in the Southeast Georgia district.

They do not have an official date yet for when they will be turned on, but thousands of drivers can already see them built into the ground.

It’s to be treated like a normal signal: drive up to the line, wait for the green light to turn on, and one car at a time will go onto the interstate to merge with the traffic flow.

There’s a lot of excitement with the Chatham Parkway bridge officially raised and back open, but this is another step in the larger I-16 at I-95 project.

According to GDOT’s ITS Design Guidelines, “ramp meters increase the operational efficiency and safety of freeway corridors by breaking up platoons (clusters) of vehicles as they enter the mainline traffic stream.”

The objectives of having ramp meters to manage congestion on the freeway are:

Increase freeway mainline speed in the vicinity of the entrance ramp
Minimize the speed differential between the lanes on the mainline freeway
Improve weaving and merging conditions related to traffic entering via the entrance ramp
Mitigate traffic queues and conditions on the arterial that feeds the entrance ramp

According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, many regions have attributed reductions in carbon emissions and fuel consumption after ramp meters are implemented. They said, however, that it is typically difficult to measure.