(WXYZ) — The University of Michigan will be installing 20 more “SMART” intersections at the start of 2023. Their goal is to make roads safer both for drivers and pedestrians.
One has already been installed at the roundabout on Ellsworth and State Street and it's already providing new insight.
This location is a place where some drivers say they've seen plenty of crashes.
"All the time," driver Lee Brown said,
But now when you drive through, you might see one of these four black poles with a camera on top. They're meant to help the University of Michigan to study the traffic flow.
According to the university, since its installation in May of 2021, there have been nearly 100 crashes.
“It is one of the crash-prone intersections in the city of Ann Arbor," civil engineering professor at U-M Henry Liu said.
He is the one heading up the $20 million smart intersections project.
“We will instrument these intersections with detection sensors and communication devices," he says.
He says these smart intersections use video cameras and radar sensors to track not only cars but pedestrians and bicyclists as well. From the data collected at State and Ellsworth, they are suggesting improving lane markers and better signage when approaching the intersection.
Other drivers see room for improvement too.
“Maybe more lines on the street, so people can actually know which way to go," Brown adds.
Eventually, the goal is to have these intersections communicate with the technology in cars to warn drivers if there is a potential danger that could cause a crash.
