511 Wisconsin adds thousands of miles to road conditions map

EAU CLAIRE CO., Wis. (WEAU) -With two rounds of winter weather expected Monday night and Tuesday, roads are likely to get slippery.

One map is looking to help drivers navigate the winter road conditions.

“You can tell if things are good winter driving or slippery stretches, snow-covered, ice-covered,” said Stacey Pierce, a traffic management unit supervisor with the Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT).

Rolled out in 2013, WisDOT uses 511 Wisconsin to report road conditions across the state.

This year the program got a major upgrade.

“We recently added more than 10,000 more miles of new roadways that have winter road conditions,” Pierce said.

Pierce said the system is also updating more frequently than before.

“It’s a computerized model, and so it’s automated system, which is great so we can get those conditions 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year,” Pierce said.

For winter road conditions, Pierce said the model pulls data from the National Weather Service, weather stations and from sensors on snow plows across the state.

In Eau Claire County these upgrades are providing more information for drivers.

“Clairemont Avenue is a major road in Eau Claire, and its a road people depend on to get places, and that wasn’t covered, but it’s part of Highway 12 and with this update, it is included,” said Sam Simmons, an emergency management program assistant for Eau Claire County.

Simmons said many of the major highways running through the county are part of the system like U.S. 53, Wisconsin 37 and more.

“It helps us to know what’s going on, but it also helps you when you’re about to head out, or if you’re going somewhere outside the county or maybe a few hours away,” Simmons said.

In addition to road conditions, 511 Wisconsin provides information for drivers on construction, crashes and closures.

All you have to do is call 511, download the app or use its website.

For the winter weather this week, Simmons and Pierce want to remind drivers to slow down, stay out of the way of snow plows and check the road conditions before you go.

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