Evacuating Floridain 2004

Hurricane Evacuation Transportation Workshop

April 5, 2004

Paul ClarkFDOT - TallahasseeEmergency Management Coordinatorpaul.clark @dot.state.fl.us

DOT Traffic Counter Website

Traffic counter data on website: www3.dot.state.fl.us/ trafficinformation

FDOT and DEM selected the 50 sensor locations specifically to support evacuation needs

DOT Traffic Counter Data• Provides hourly vehicle counts, average

speed, historical numbers for that specific day and time

• Each counter senses vehicles in both directions to support the five designated contra-flow plans

• 15 can be activated at one time• Some will have live video camera view

capability

DOT Traffic Counter Data

DOT Traffic Counter Data• Operational Uses:

– Alert host counties and communities upstream of evacuating areas to the arrival time and numbers of potential evacuees on roadways and shelters

– Public information to inform evacuees and others of areas experiencing traffic congestion

– Monitor the actual status of evacuations relative to predicted clearance times

DOT Traffic Counter Data• Operational Uses:

– Evacuation shutdown planning - determining when to divert traffic or shut down interstate interchanges based on:

• average vehicle speed at the sensor and • the time needed to clear predicted vehicle queues

before the arrival time of tropical storm force winds

Interstate 10Jacksonville to Tallahassee

Begin: I-295End: US 19Total Length: 131 miles

Florida’s TurnpikeFort Pierce to Orlando

Begin: SR 70End: SR 50Total Length: 114 miles

Bee Line ExpresswaySR 520 to SR 417

Begin: SR 520End: SR 417Total Length: 22 miles

Interstate 4Tampa to Orlando

Begin: I-275End: SR 417Total Length: 63 miles

Interstate 75 – Alligator AlleyEast and West Bound

EastboundBegin: CR 951End: US 27Total Length: 78 miles

WestboundBegin: US 27End: Corkscrew RdTotal Length: 105 miles

Interstate 75Shoulder Use Plan

Begin: Toledo Blade BlvdEnd: SR 681Total Length: 21 miles

Partnerships• Know who all the stakeholders are!

– Local Cities and Counties– Florida DOT– Florida Highway Patrol – Florida Division of Emergency Management– Florida National Guard– Florida Department of Law Enforcement– Florida Department of Health– Florida Public Radio– Volunteer Agencies– And the list goes on

Future for Florida

• Exercises– Statewide Hurricane Exercise (May 3-7, 2004)– FDOT Hurricane Exercise (TBD)

• Continue to look to technology and its uses

• Plan, Plan, and Plan some more!