Ever since 9/11, heightened degrees of security at Ontario’s Sarnia/Port Huron border crossing have lead to typical truck queues on the order of 5 to 10 km. The overall process to clear vehicles at the border has lead to an unusual mix of fast moving passenger traffic and slow moving truck queues on the Hwy 402 approach to the border. Line-of-sight problems on Hwy 402 due to horizontal or vertical highway curves compound this problem such that motorists travelling at high speeds under free flow conditions unexpectedly meet slow or stopped border crossing traffic. This issue had led to a number of fatalities from queue end collisions. The Ministry of Transportation Advanced Traffic Management Section lead an initiative to implement a Queue Warning System on Hwy 402 to automatically detect queues and then warn motorists in advance of the queue via Variable Message Signs. One of the biggest challenges with the implementation of this system was the fact that the monitoring and supervision of the system was to undertaken by the London COMPASS Traffic Operations Centre which is physically located over 100 km away from the field plant. A high bandwidth, long-haul communications system needed to be designed to carry 10 high-quality camera images as well as data from the field controllers to monitor traffic conditions. This paper also presents the technology solution provided as well as the lessons learned to ensure a robust operation of the communications network.
