SUNRISE, FLA. – As part of the Florida Department of Transportation’s Wrong-Way Driving Initiative, Florida’s Turnpike Enterprise will enhance it’s Wrong-Way Vehicle Detection System.

This project is a statewide effort under FDOT with the goal to greatly enhance driver safety.

New enchantments to the detection system will be spread throughout Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties.

Florida Turnpike Enterprises will also increase the amount of wrong-way signage, roadway reflectors and pavement marking in locations along Florida’s Turnpike/State Road 821, Florida’s Turnpike/SR 91 and the Sawgrass Expressway/SR 869.

“We have almost 1,500 wrong-way crashes a year in Florida,” said John Easterling, FDOT Traffic Engineer.

It’s an alarming statistic along Florida roads, which many times have ended in injuries or death.

A few months ago near St. Petersburg, a Florida trooper risked her life by putting herself in the path of a drunk driver who was driving the opposite direction. The trooper prevented the driver from coming close to hundreds of runners, who were participating in a 10K nearby.

Both the driver and state trooper were both severely injured.

The project is expected to be completed by the middle of 2023. The cost is approximately $5.5 million.

These signs will be installed with flashing LED lights that activate whenever a car is coming up the wrong way on a ramp.

“We have a 98 – 99% self correction rate with this additional technology,” said Easterling.

The signs will also have sensors and cameras that will alert law enforcement and Traffic Management Center staff to respond to vehicles that are driving the wrong way.

“An audible alarm for the operators in the traffic management center,” said Easterling.

The alarm would send a notification back to the system at FDOT headquarters, and examples captured by traffic cameras show the project works.

When the wrong way alarms go off, employees at FDOT are able to coordinate with state troopers to attempt to intercept the wrong way driver, along with placing a message of warning for other drivers going the correct way on message boards.

“You see a driver entering the wrong direction, but then as they see the flashing lights, they are applying bright lights to turn around,” said Easterling.

The state of the art technology will hopefully make Florida’s roads safer.

Florida’s Turnpike has 18 existing ramp locations with similar technology in Southeast Florida and throughout the state.