Caltrans is preparing a project that will install an Automated Warning System on northbound State Route 99 (SR-99), allowing better monitoring of local traffic and weather conditions to benefit motorists and businesses.

Time-saving information will be relayed through a Changeable Message Sign (CMS) and Caltrans’ QuickMap (http://quickmap.dot.ca.gov), which provides near real-time updates on traffic congestion, roadway accidents, chain controls and other factors that threaten to delay motorists.

The project is scheduled to begin work this week and finish in July 2017.

Work on SR-99 will be performed from Kansas Avenue to Standiford Avenue/Beckwith Road. Work that will impact traffic will be done primarily at night, 7 p.m. to 6 a.m. The work will require lane closures and drivers should prepare for delays of 10 minutes.

Temporary railing will be placed on the right shoulder of northbound SR-99, just north of Kansas Avenue. The majority of the work will be performed during the day, behind the protective railing.

The project will install electronic monitoring equipment along this 2.5-mile stretch of SR-99, enhancing a critical commercial corridor in the San Joaquin Valley. More than 140,000 vehicles, including 20,000 big rigs, travel this highway in Stanislaus County on a typical day – compared to 91,000 vehicles in 2000, a 54 percent increase in 17 years.

Caltrans will install a Changeable Message Sign (CMS) just north of Kansas Avenue, as well as several Traffic Monitoring Stations (TMS), a closed circuit television camera and a weather information system on northbound SR-99. The technology will help quickly identify traffic and weather-related issues, allowing Caltrans to provide automated updates that will save motorists time and money on their highway journey.

The monitoring stations include traffic loops that will be installed beneath the roadway, allowing Caltrans’ Traffic Monitoring Center to remotely monitor the speed and volume of traffic. The changeable sign will automatically alert drivers to congested conditions ahead, and it can broadcast alternative routes and weather conditions, as well.

The camera will help identify roadway incidents, congestion and other incidents that could impact the flow of traffic.

Studebaker Brown Electric of North Highlands will perform the work for $491,000.

This work is scheduled to begin as listed, but is subject to change due to traffic incidents, weather, availability of equipment and/or materials and construction related issues.

For the safety of motorists, remember to Slow for the Cone Zone.