Hampton roads traffic surveillance and control system

A surveillance and control system was designed and implemented for the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel Crossing connecting Hampton and Norfolk, VA. The facility is a part of the Interstate 64 subsystem and consists of two bridges at each end connected by two two-lane tunnels. This system has been operating successfully since November 15, 1977. The system provides the means for improving vehicular throughput and reducing congestion, improving the management of vehicle incidents and facility operations, improving motorist information, improving environmental conditions, and improving traffic data collection. A control room situated in one of the four tunnel ventilation buildings is the nucleus of the traffic management activities. The system enables vehicle flow control of tunnel access; incident detection, incident verification, and incident operations management; automatic response to environmental and overheight problems; hardware monitoring of the signs, signals, and vehicle detectors; execution of major traffic operations on the faculty upon operator request; and daily reporting and logging of system events. Vehicle data are collected and accumulated by the system and are used for reporting and for performing incident detection and access control.