WYDOT’s new 511 map offers more functionality
Mobile friendly, road conditions, incidents, construction, webcams, truck parking, more
by Wyoming Department of Transportation
January 20, 2017
Travelers looking for Wyoming road information now have access to a new 511 travel map that offers improved functionality and usability.
The Wyoming Department of Transportation revamped its 511 map and launched a new version on Thursday, Jan. 19, making it mobile friendly and providing even more road information, conditions and other travel information. Work on the map started about six months ago.
"The new map has more functionality and has a more modern look and feel," said Vince Garcia, WYDOT’s GIS/ITS manager. "There are a lot of new features that will enhance a user’s experience and help WYDOT tell its story."
The new map will still show road conditions, incidents, web cameras, weather stations, construction projects, electronic message signs, variable speed limit signs, rest areas and size and weight restrictions.
The new map builds on those features and includes some new ones as well. When people navigate to the new map, they’ll see a "helpful tip" box that explains some of the functionality and how to access the information. A help file and video tutorial are also included as additional resources for new users.
One of the new features the map will show is impact to travel based on full road closure, partial closure, high, moderate and low impacts. A graphical display at the top left shows the travel impact and what they mean for quick reference. The road conditions layer is automatically activated when a person navigates to the page.
As with the previous map, people can click on a road section on the new map to see specific road conditions in a particular area.
Other new additions include a search feature, an enhanced legend that gives more information about the map icons and a scroll-through feature that allows a user to click through multiple condition and information windows instead of clicking on each icon individually.
As a way to customize a user’s experience, the new map remembers what layers a user activated during their last session, providing they don’t have their web browser set to clear their cache and browsing history when they close their web browser.
For example, a user can search for Gillette and activate the web camera, dynamic message signs and other layers. If they navigate away from the page or close their web browser, when they revisit the 511 map website, a message will appear in the lower right corner asking if they want to restore the map to the previous session.
For those who are colorblind, the new map has an option to switch to colors that are more easily viewed.
WYDOT will continue to make enhancements to the new map. In a follow-up release, WYDOT officials anticipate adding a National Weather Service layer that will provide radar images and watches and warnings.
Visit https://map.wyoroad.info/wtimap/index.html to view the new 511 map. A training video is available at https://youtu.be/_MnL7npUFEA.
For more information, contact Vince Garcia, WYDOT’s GIS/ITS manager, at (307) 777-4231, or Ali Ragan, GIS/ITS project manager, at (307) 777-2985.
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