- Associated Press - Saturday, May 26, 2018

CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) - After a structural failure shuttered the westbound lanes of the James B. Edwards Bridge, one of the most important spots in the Lowcountry has been a small room tucked behind a nondescript North Charleston office building.

That’s where S.C. Department of Transportation officials monitor as many as 32 traffic cameras at once and do what they can to ease congestion - a problem that reached epic levels in spots, particularly parts of Mount Pleasant.

The room, known as the “traffic management center,” is one of five that DOT has built across South Carolina (the others are in Rock Hill, Myrtle Beach, Greenville and the statewide traffic control center in Columbia).

Each traffic management center has the ability to call up images from any of the state’s approximately 450 traffic cameras, and to swivel those cameras or get them to zoom in and out.

On Sunday afternoon, most every screen featured traffic flowing along Interstate 526 as well as Interstate 26 and the Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge. And they showed traffic flowing smoothly everywhere, except across Daniel Island, where cars had to merge into a single lane in preparation for the lane reversal on the eastbound side of the James B. Edwards Bridge.

S.C. Department of Transportation Secretary Christy Hall dropped by the center Sunday before going to the Mount Pleasant side of the Wando River bridge to monitor preparations for the lane reversal. DOT Commissioner Robert Robbins and state Rep. Nancy Mace, R-Daniel Island, joined Hall there.

A handful of DOT workers watch the screens at the center. Once they spot a problem, they can dispatch a tow truck or one of DOT’s SHEP roadside assistance vehicles (SHEP stands for State Highway Emergency Program).

These vehicles helped about 30 motorists each day during heavy congestion, and DOT expanded their presence to S.C. Highway 41 and Clements Ferry Road, which saw heightened traffic because of the bridge closure.

“The SHEP program is an integral part of our ability to manage congestion,” Hall said.

The DOT’s 511 App allows motorists on most interstates to contact SHEP for help.

For every minute a traffic lane is lost because of an incident, it takes about four minutes before traffic returns to a free flow, said Rob Perry, DOT’s director of traffic engineering. The faster the response to a lane obstruction - or even a disabled vehicle in the emergency lane - the fewer motorists will be slowed down.

Those in the control room also can contact troopers with the Department of Public Safety, as well as local police. And they can adjust the message on roadside message boards to give motorists a sense of traffic congestion or warn them about lane closures.

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Information from: The Post and Courier, http://www.postandcourier.com

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