‘Recalculating!’ GPS Alternate Routes Not Always The Best Choice

Almost everyone has experienced it: taking an alternate route that your GPS recommends, only to wind up in a worse traffic situation than the one you were trying to get out of.

“You don’t want to rely solely on GPS when there’s a major incident on I-35 in the Waco District,” TxDOT Information Specialist Jodi Wheatley explains. “GPS doesn’t take into account the current local conditions, whereas the routes we provide do.”

Wheatley is talking about the various travel tools developed by TxDOT designed to get motorists around a major problem, without the frustration of driving into more congestion. “We realized long ago that when there’s a backup, sometimes what appears to be the logical alternate route can be bad, too.”

One example of how GPS alternate routes caused problems was in March 2015, when a bridge crossing on I-35 in Salado closed down I-35 for 12 hours. An oversized 18-wheeler struck the bridge, resulting in one death and several injuries.

“We had a pretty good challenge to reroute both north- and southbound travelers,” says TxDOT Waco District Engineer Bobby Littlefield. “We established a route with plenty of detour signage, but many motorists used GPS instead, which put them right into major congestion inside the city limits of Salado. It was a real mess.”

Another recent problem with GPS alternate routes occurred during the Corsicana area flooding in October. The flooding was so widespread in that area of I-45 that TxDOT rerouted traffic across to I-35 in Hillsboro.

“Instead, a lot of motorists used their GPS and tried to get around the area and back onto I-45,” Littlefield says. “Their units put them right back into the flooding situation and compounded the problems.”

During a major incident that forces the closure of I-35, TxDOT urges motorists to follow the detour route — which will be clearly indicated by signs along the route. “We have real-time travel maps that will help you see the traffic conditions in the Waco District along routes you are considering,” says Senior Research Scientist Bob Brydia of the Texas A&M Transportation Institute, which helped TxDOT develop and implement the traveler-information resources. (Statewide information on state roads can be found at DriveTexas™)

“If you are aware of a closure ahead, we urge you to pull off the highway, check the My35.org website for any updates, and plan your alternate route based on real-time travel information,” Brydia says. “It could save you a lot of frustration.” 

This article originally published by Strategic Partnerships Inc.