FRESNO – It's a dangerous stretch of Central Valley highway, where motorists can suddenly find themselves enveloped in thick fog – but it's about to become safer.
The state Department of Transportation has announced details of its plan to build a fog-warning system on a 12-mile stretch of Highway 99 in southern Fresno County and northern Tulare County that could serve as a model for future warning systems throughout the San Joaquin Valley. The $12 million project is scheduled to be completed in four to six weeks.
The pilot project, announced Wednesday, is an improved version of a fog-warning system in the Stockton area that has helped reduce crashes, officials said. If the Fresno-Tulare system is successful, Caltrans may build similar systems elsewhere, said Malcolm Dougherty, director of the Caltrans district office in Fresno.
Caltrans and the California Highway Patrol said the project will use weather stations, vehicle motion detectors, visibility sensors and closed-circuit cameras to monitor weather and traffic patterns along the 12-mile stretch of highway. When the sensors detect slowing traffic or worsening fog conditions, the automated system will flash alerts on message signs.
The goal is to get motorists to slow before hitting an unexpected bank of fog. But, Dougherty noted, "this only works if the motoring public heeds the warning."
The Stockton-area system was built in 1996 and covers a section of southbound Interstate 5 and westbound Highway 120 near Lathrop and Manteca. Chantel Miller, a Caltrans spokeswoman in Stockton, said the system has helped reduce the annual number of crashes by 70 percent since the system began operating.
The San Joaquin Valley has a history of massive accidents during the foggy season, which usually begins in November. Last November, a fog-fueled pileup involving 92 vehicles injured dozens of people and killed two.
Morris Earl Taylor of San Antonio, who caused the first accident in that pileup, was sentenced Friday in Superior Court to a year in jail and three months of probation for driving under the influence of alcohol.
What You Should Know About Comments on Sacbee.com
Sacbee.com is happy to provide a forum for reader interaction, discussion, feedback and reaction to our stories. However, we reserve the right to delete inappropriate comments or ban users who can't play nice. (See our full terms of service here.)
Here are some rules of the road:
• Keep your comments civil. Don't insult one another or the subjects of our articles. If you think a comment violates our guidelines click the "report abuse" button to notify the moderators. Responding to the comment will only encourage bad behavior.
• Don't use profanities, vulgarities or hate speech. This is a general interest news site. Sometimes, there are children present. Don't say anything in a way you wouldn't want your own child to hear.
• Do not attack other users; focus your comments on issues, not individuals.
• Stay on topic. Only post comments relevant to the article at hand. If you want to discuss an issue with a specific user, click on his profile name and send him a direct message.
• Do not copy and paste outside material into the comment box.
• Don't repeat the same comment over and over. We heard you the first time.
• Do not use the commenting system for advertising. That's spam and it isn't allowed.
• Don't use all capital letters. That's akin to yelling and not appreciated by the audience.
You should also know that The Sacramento Bee does not screen comments before they are posted. You are more likely to see inappropriate comments before our staff does, so we ask that you click the "report abuse" button to submit those comments for moderator review. You also may notify us via email at feedback@sacbee.com. Note the headline on which the comment is made and tell us the profile name of the user who made the comment. Remember, comment moderation is subjective. You may find some material objectionable that we won't and vice versa.
If you submit a comment, the user name of your account will appear along with it. Users cannot remove their own comments once they have submitted them, but you may ask our staff to retract one of your comments by sending an email to feedback@sacbee.com. Again, make sure you note the headline on which the comment is made and tell us your profile name.
About Comments
Reader comments on Sacbee.com are the opinions of the writer, not The Sacramento Bee. If you see an objectionable comment, click the "report abuse" button below it. We will delete comments containing inappropriate links, obscenities, hate speech, and personal attacks. Flagrant or repeat violators will be banned. See more about comments here.