Intelligent engineering solutions company Fima is to modernise 50 road weather stations on Lithuanian roads, thus further enhancing the reliability of the data on traffic conditions. The modernisation of such stations and their integration into the Traffic Information System, which was launched last autumn, will ensure that drivers will be provided with better-quality information about road surface conditions, visibility, precipitation intensity, and other important road-related issues.

“The new automated road weather stations will be capable of providing more accurate information on air temperature and humidity, precipitation intensity, visibility, wind speed and direction, and road surface conditions: the amount of water, snow and ice on the road, and the traction ratio,” said Rokas Šlekys, the director of Fima’s Solutions Department. The problem is that the stations are 13 years old and are now technologically outdated. They come from several different manufacturers and differ in their modifications; therefore, it is difficult to ensure well-tuned operation of the system. The modernisation is scheduled for completion by the end of August this year.

This modernisation of road weather stations is a continuation of the ongoing project of implementing the Traffic Information System on roads of national importance; the main stage of the project, installation of the Traffic Information System, was completed by Fima and its partners in autumn 2011. The system, which allows real-time monitoring of the situation on national roads at the www.eismoinfo.lt portal, is the first of its kind in the Baltic States.

“We noticed that different road weather stations sometimes provide varying data; therefore, to ensure reliable operation of the system and the provision of accurate data to the drivers, some stations have to be modernised,” said the Director of the Traffic Information and Management Division of the Lithuanian Road Administration under the Ministry of Traffic and Communication, Gintaras Cilcius, referring to the data provided by the system.

Currently, there are nearly 100 road weather stations on roads of national importance across Lithuania. More than 40 of them are state-of-the-art devices that were installed last year and come with weather condition monitoring equipment, video cameras and traffic counters. The remaining 50 outdated stations produced by different manufacturers require upgrading to allow the collection of more precise data on road conditions.