Road construction information now available on 5-1-1

The change is seasons is leading to a changeover today in the travel information provided by the Department of Transportation. Reports on whiteouts and snow covered roads are changing to reports of orange traffic cones and bulldozers on the 5-1-1 information phone line and website. The service began in November as a 24-hour information source giving out the latest information on winter driving conditions in the state. D-O-T spokesman Michael Jackson says they’re switching gears today (Monday). The information will now include the latest updates on road construction and any major maintenance projects impacting traffic. Jackson says some 200-thousand people called, or went on-line to get winter travel info. He says those numbers show it was a very popular service and the calls actually exceeded their expectations in this first year. In fact, Jackson says the system was so successfull, adding more capacity is one of the things they’ve done to improve the system.He says they also corrected the pronunciation on some of the towns that were mispronounced when they were originally recorded for the system. Jackson hopes motorists will take advantage of the system through this spring and summer. Jackson says you can dial 5-1-1 to in most cases get free informaton via your cell phone, or you can check before you leave at: 511ia.org.