Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Lucknow Sentinel, 2015-12-02, Page 66 Lucknow Sentinel • Wednesday, December 2, 2015 MTO launches one-stop website for winter driving conditions Darryl Coote Kincardine News The Ontario Ministry of Transportation launched a new website on Nov. 22, 2015 it hopes will be a one-stop shop for drivers to receive all the weather and road condition information they need to ensure safe winter driving. The website, trackmyplow. com, is a multifaceted portal that allows users to aggregate and monitor OPP and 511 weather Twitter feeds, receive Ontario government -issued weather alerts and see current images from highway cameras. It can also be region -specific tailored and, yes, as its name states, it allows the public to track snowplows as they clean provincial highways. "This is all about giving the driver access to information before they set out on their trip, said Ontario Ministry of Transportation Director Kevin Bentley from the Kincardine Patrol Yard where the website was announced. Created for internal use last year, the website currently ser- vices the Simcoe and Owen Sound highway maintenance contract areas, with the latter consisting of highways in Grey, Bruce and Huron Counties as well as parts of Wellington, Perth and Dufferin Counties. While the website is still con- sidered in testing, Bentley said the ministryhopes to expand its coverage as winter progresses. "We will start to build around, go north and east of Simcoe and Owen Sound. We'd like to do it in a continuous fashion," he said, with the Huntsville area the most likely destination next to be serviced by the program. Using technology already in place such as the GPS equip- ment in the roughly 35 snowplows in the Owen Sound contract area and the counties' roadside cameras, most of the cost of the program was in soft- ware development and servers, Bentley said. "We basically already had that technology, it was just a matter of creating the software and taking the information and displaying it to the public" The ministry did install 140 new roadside cameras at all of its road weather information stations for the project, but the cost of the program, Bentley said, is "incremental" based on how many contract areas the program monitors. "But for the two contract areas it's several hundred thou- sand dollars in terms of the ini- tial development work;' Bentley said. An added benefit of the project is it also monitors con- tractor plow companies on the 30 requirements they NUAL 1OTHREE The Lucknow Sentinel invites you to help fill their annual mitten tree. Donations of new mittens, 1144 gloves, scarves and hats will be collected until December 11th. All donations will become part of the Salvation Army's Christmas packages, delivered to area children who are not as fortunate as others. For more information please contact the staff at the Lucknow Sentinel (519) 528-2822 Darryl Coote/Kincardine News Ministry of Transportation Director Kevin Bentley points at blue arrows indicating the current location and recent history of a plow on the ministry's new website, trackmyplow.com. must perform when snowfalls as the GPS equipment moni- tors and displays the location of all equipment deployed. "Using the GPS technol- ogy we can track deploy- ment as well as making sure they are completing their routes within the required time," he said. The public can monitor the current location of a plow and its last hour of driving, while the images taken by the stationary cameras refresh every 20 minutes. "We certainly have been worldngwith our contractors to improve winter maintenance," Bentley said, "and we can do great work around plowing, sanding and salting the high- ways, and we can talk to drivers about safe winter driving, but we also feel the one component that was missing was a one-stop shopping for the public to go and make some decisions, and plan their trip before they leave home;' he said. The website can be accessed either through the ministry's 511 Traveller Infor- mation Service Website and clicking on link under the cat- egory Related Links or by typ- ing www.trackmyplow.com directly into the browser. South Bruce OPP members recognized for years of service On Nov. 12, 2015, the annual Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) West Region awards ceremony was held at the Four Points Sheraton hotel in London. OPP Commissioner Vince Hawkes was in attendance to recognize OPP members, both uniform and civilian, along with members of the public for their service. "I'm proud to serve with the dedicated men and women at the South Bruce detachment," said inspector Dana Earley, detachment commander for South Bruce OPP. "I get to see examples of their hard work and professionalism every day. The awards ceremony provides an opportunity to formally recognize their well-deserved achieve- ments. I congratulate the recipients and all my staff for their ongoing commit- ment to public safety?' Among those receiving recognition, were mem- bers of the South Bruce OPP. • Constable Harry Muir —45 year Police Exemplary Service Medal • Constable Robert Fergu- son — 35 year Police Exem- plary Service Medal • Retired Inspector Scott Smith — 30 year Police Exemplary Service Medal • Constable Glen Fields —20 year Police Exemplary Service Medal • Detective Constable Melvin Joa — 20 year Police Exemplary Service Medal • Auxiliary OPP Andy Wil- liams — 20 year Auxiliary Police Service Medal • Constable Karl Baumann - Commissioner's Citation for Life Saving • Constable Brad Ferguson - Commissioner's Citation for Life Saving is LET'S ALL DO OUR PART! PLEASE RECYCLE