MDOT 511 traffic service info expands

Published 7:00 am Wednesday, February 19, 2014

Mississippi residents and travelers can now access information on weather-related road conditions and construction by dialing 511, announced the Mississippi Department of Transportation Tuesday.

MDOT officials said in a press release that the service is to complement the agency’s existing traffic resources, which include MDOTtraffic.com and MDOT’s smartphone application.

All three resources provide travelers with on-demand route-specific information for select routes. The information is available for all Interstates and select US highways and state routes, including US Highways 49, 49W, 49E, 61, 45, 45 ALT, 90, 98,84,82,78 and State Routes 25,6 and 302.

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“Mississippi 511 offers travelers easy access to information valuable for both pre-trip planning and en route decision making,” said MDOT Executive Director Melinda McGrath. “Motorists can dial 511, find out about current road conditions along their route and determine whether conditions are suitable for continued travel or seek an alternate route.”

Mississippi 511 is a free, statewide service that’s available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The service uses an interactive voice response system with speech recognition allowing for hands free operation by callers.

Callers can also set up a “My Commute” user account at MDOTtraffic.com that defines their usual traveling route.

When the caller accesses their “My Commute” account through 511, personalized travel information will be provided for the predefined routes.

Some of the route-specific information callers will be able to access includes, incident/accident information, road construction and maintenance projects; road closures, road diversions and major delays; weather warnings and alerts; emergency alerts including evacuations and amber alerts; tourism information; public transportation; welcome centers and rest areas; travel times

Mississippi 511 is currently not available to Verizon customers and they should contact their carrier about 511 availability.