Pocono News Section

PennDOT Unveils New Communications Center

PennDOT Unveils New Communications Center - Monday, November 19, 2007 at 11:35PM EST

Reported by: Joe Holden
Monday, Nov 19, 2007 @11:35pm EST
DUNMORE, LACKAWANNA COUNTY- The first storm of the season hits just as PennDOT opens a brand new communications center in Lackawanna County.

The new center will monitor road conditions over thousands of miles of roads. While there are not any windows in the nerve center, they have a great view of road conditions.

State officials and lawmakers have said information was all over the place at the height of the February 14th snow storm.

At times, one hand didn't know what the other was doing, leading to disastrous traffic nightmares on roadways.

Monday we took an exclusive look at PennDOT District 4's new $350,000 incident command center. You could call it "eye-to-eye" communication with the leaders of local agencies and the state all under one roof during a crisis on roadways.

Once the Director of the State Emergency Management Agency activates the center during an incident, officials will have information and redundant data at their fingertips from video of cameras to sensors describing what's on roadway surfaces.