Caltrans Plans to Expand Radio Traffic Alert System

South County residents will soon be able to get more information on traffic accidents and road construction when Caltrans expands its radio traffic update system in January.

The department’s Highway Advisory Radio, or CalRadio AM 530, now supplies updates for drivers within a four-mile radius of its transmitter near the interchange at the Costa Mesa and Santa Ana freeways. That will expand to a four-mile radius in South County when a new transmitter is added at the juncture of the San Diego and Santa Ana freeways.

“What you are seeing here is the beginning,” Keith McKean, Caltrans district director, said Monday.

The station, which operates at 10 watts, is part of a Caltrans program to ease traffic congestion during major construction projects on the Costa Mesa, Santa Ana and San Diego freeways. When it was launched in March 1988, construction reports were updated only two or three times a week, and the station’s announcers were picked from among Caltrans’s regular staff.

In April Caltrans added a full-time announcer, Karen Johnson, who updates the reports every day and helps coordinate its operation. The reports, which run on the station 24 hours a day, can be interrupted in case of a traffic emergency.

“We’re presenting a problem, telling them where the traffic snarls are, and we’re providing solutions,” Johnson said.

She added that the quality of the broadcasts has improved.

“Now it sounds like something to get their car radio buttons tuned into,” Johnson said.

During the summer, the California Highway Patrol started rush-hour traffic reports that provide instant information on traffic accidents. A CHP officer provides new reports every 10 minutes during rush hour.

“What we’re trying to do is traffic relief,” said CHP officer Keith Thornhill. “The faster we get the roadway cleared, the less collisions you’re going to have.”

The El Toro Y transmitter will cost about $32,000 to install, said Joe Hecker, the traffic management branch chief. In addition, Caltrans will add several electronic signs along the freeway route to alert commuters of a traffic emergency and tell them to tune into the station.

Sound bites from the station air daily on KFI AM 640 and KWKW AM 1330. On weekends, Air Traffic Watch provides reports on 20 Orange County stations.

For now, the station is concentrating on broadcasting at construction corridors. If the programs succeed, they could expand all over Orange County, Hecker said.

“Our goal is to keep the congestion at the existing level or less,” Hecker said. “Our goal is to not get any worse than it is. If we can reduce it, then we’ve done our job even more.”