COLUMBUS – Drivers headed home to Gahanna or the East Side or travelers trying to get to John Glenn Columbus International Airport from the west Monday afternoon will find traffic moving a little faster when the Ohio Department of Transportation raises the speed limit in the stretch of I-670 known as the “Smart Lane Corridor.”
The speed limit will increase from 45 mph to 55 mph on the stretch of eastbound I-670 between I-71 and I-270, when the SmartLane is in use, ODOT director Jack Marchbanks said.
ODOT personnel in the agency’s Traffic Management Center monitor the traffic flow so Marchbanks says the speed limit could be lowered, depending on traffic backup or changing road conditions, or rmay vary from section to section as operators examine traffic flow in real time.
“This approach allows us to be proactive in keeping drivers safe.”The agile technology of the SmartLane, combined with our ability to adjust the speed limit, enables us to truly manage traffic, not just monitor it,” Marchbanks said.
Construction of Ohio’s first SmartLane cost about $12.5 million with an additional $48 million going towards interchange improvements at I-670 and I-270 on the East Side but, since opening in October, Marchbankds says, the SmartLane has cut average commute times on I-670 in half.
ODOT opens the extra eastbound lane SmartLane during peak times of traffic in the evening, when the average commute time between I-71 and I-270 is around five minutes, down from 10 minutes before construction started. Marchbanks says it also makes travel times more consistent.