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BackgroundAfter the closing of
the Chanute Air Force Base in early 90s, the Department of Civil
Engineering ,University of Illinois
at Urbana-Champaign established the advanced Transportation Research and
Engineering Laboratory (ATREL) on a
section of the former base site in Rantoul,
Illinois
in early 1995.Having ample space available at ATREL, the University was seeking
partners in utilizing the existing building facilities. About the same time,
following the recommendations of the National Transportation safety Board (NTSB) on
the train-bus accident in Fox River Grove, the Illinois Department
of Transportation was exploring a centrally located facility which could
be utilized to train IDOT employees and contractors in the integration and
working relationship of the railroad and highway signal systems. These
circumstances led to the formation of the Traffic Operations Laboratory
(TOL). ATRELThe ATREL facilities
include 50,000 sq. ft. of building space and 56 acres of property in the
southeast sector of the former Chanute Air Force Base in Traffic Operations Lab FacilityThe TOL has about
7,400 sq. ft. of available building space nearly half of which comprises of
offices, classrooms and testing areas, and the rest is a 17-foot high bay
area. The entire building is heated, and except in the bay area, the
air-conditioning is also provided. The telecommunications system consist of a
56 K trunk line and an on-premise router, providing multiple data/voice drops
throughout the building. The lab has a variety of testing
equipment suited for the evaluation of traffic signal components and
fiber optic communications. Also a number of PCs are available for hands-on
software training. Since the lab is an ATREL facility, the ATREL resources
may be utilized on an as needed basis. PartnershipThe TOL is a
partnership among the Illinois DOT, the university and the traffic signal
component vendors. The Illinois DOT and the Lab ScopeTraining workshops
on the integration of the design and operation of railroad/highway grade
crossing warning system and the traffic signal system will be conducted at
the lab in the near future. The workshop participants will be provided
hands-on training. The traffic signal control devices will be tested and
evaluated at the lab. These evaluation results will be furnished to the
department for decisions concerning product approval. Also, emerging
traffic control concepts utilizing existing technologies will be researched
and evaluated at the lab. This will include establishing the evaluation
parameters and testing under actual or simulated field conditions. A brief
summary of findings will be prepared for the concepts evaluated. |
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