D-O-T sends Highway Helpers onto interstates in Des Moines

The Iowa Department of Transportation is trying a new approach to keep traffic moving on the busy highways around the state’s largest city. Two specially equipped “Highway Helper” vehicles will patrol the I-235 and I-35/80 corridors in Des Moines. D-O-T spokesman Mike Krohn says they’ll be looking for stalled or disabled vehicles.The “Highway Helpers” will do what they can to get the vehicle running, or get it off the road. Krohn says the I-235 corridor sees vehicle counts up to 100-thousand per day, while the counts are almost 70-thousand cars-per-day along the I-35/80 corridor. He says one stalled car on the roadway can really back things up.Krohn says the vehicles will free up local police and state troopers to answer more serious calls, such as accidents involving an injury. Krohn says their goal is to keep traffic flowing.The “Highway Helper” vehicles hit the road for the first time Tuesday.