Interstate Incident Management Plan
In an effort to increase safety of responders while decreasing response time during interstate roadway closures, an Interstate Incident Management Plan has been created for each of the four TDOT Regions within the state. The intent of the plan is to provide all regional staff, especially Maintenance and Incident Management offices, with action plans and pre-established detours based on the location of an incident on the Region’s interstate system.
The Interstate Incident Management Plan is an extension of an earlier plan initiated during the SmartFIX 40 project in downtown Knoxville. As part of the landmark project, Incident Management Zones were created and color coded in an effort to simplify the response time during an incident. Under this design, once Emergency 911 operators or TDOT’s Traffic Management Centers are notified of an incident, dispatchers are able to send response operators to the incident, and if needed, re-route traffic onto a secondary corresponding color-coded detour route.
The goals of having an Interstate Incident Management Plan are as follows.
- Decrease response time for Department staff to respond to interstate closures
- Detail work zone traffic control so that Maintenance staff know what measures to put in place to maintain staff and public safety
- Have well-planned detour and/or alternate routes with appropriate signing where feasible
- Keep motorists moving safely to their destinations and/or places of rest
The plan divides the interstate system into sections, where if an incident occurs, motorists may either be turned around or provided with a detour or alternate route. Also included are mapping of the sections and contact information for TDOT, local emergency responders, local law enforcement and Tennessee Highway Patrol for these sections. The intent of the Interstate Incident Management Plan is that each District within the Region will have several copies of the report and will know what measures to put in place without delay. Maintenance staff will keep a current copy of this plan in each vehicle to be used for a response of this nature. In conjunction with the plan, Regions are pursuing Work Zone Traffic Control training for maintenance employees to further understand the standards and specifications for placing traffic control on the interstate system, while ensuring their safety during performance of their duties. In addition, where feasible, signing will be placed on detour and/or alternate routes so that motorists will have guidance information back onto the interstate system. The Interstate Incident Management Plan will be a living document and will be updated as changes occur on the interstate system.
The Interstate Incident Management Plans for each TDOT region can be viewed or downloaded for your convenience from the links below.
NOTE: For faster access to specifics routes, click on the desired route within the table of contents of each regional document.