If you have driven by one, chances are you have scratched your head and wondered what exactly is it? At first glance it appears to be a chain link fence surrounding a tower reaching skyward and all sorts of high tech looking devices hanging of it. One of our viewers saw one...and had questions...

The answers I found for her are the subject of this Fact Finder.

According to MDOT spokesman, Bob Felt it's pretty easy to mistake their newest roadside addition, "When you drive by these things it appears that they are mini cell phone towers encased by fencing that's not the case." So what exactly is the case when it comes to these well protected and clearly high tech "things"? Turns out there are 12 of these secured towers across Northern Michigan, and 12 more coming in the future. The only clue as to what they are, and whose behind them is a warning sign, with MDOT stamped on it. That's how I ended up talking to Bob Felt for an explanation.

Felt's simple answer to our viewer's question was "it's an RWIS system which stands for Road Weather Information System." So it's got a name but what does it do? As it turns out these RWIS stations can measure all sorts of things that impact the road conditions, like temperatures, wind speed and direction, snow or rain, visibility, humidity, barometric pressure, and provide a live look of the actual road thanks to overhead cameras. According to Felt, "what we can do from any desk that has access to this system is we can monitor 12 different locations with one person. They don't have to leave the office. They can take all the temperature readings; see what the road conditions are like. They can actually find out what is going on to make a better educated decision on what to dispatch and when with respect to the incoming snow system for example."

In other words an MDOT employee can remotely punch up one of these stations and see exactly what is going on right them which MDOT says saves them time and taxpayer money, because Felt says "in the past we had to actually send somebody out to a physical location and check the conditions of the pavement and do all these things by hand."

So it saves them money, but someone paid the million dollars to build and install these. It didn't come out of the state's coffers. Most of the money came from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. While not cheap, Felt and MDOT are firm believers it's a wise investment that will pay off in both savings and safety, "that's going to help us better utilize the resources we have. It's all about being innovative and efficient at the same time."

Where are the first 12 stations located? US-31 and M-115; US-131 at M-55 (Exit 180); US-10 and Stiles Road; US-131 at US-10 (Exit 153); M-72 and Williamsburg Road; US-131 near Burgess Road; I-75 at Marlette Road (Exit 270); northbound I-75 at the Grayling Rest Area; US-127 at M-55 (Exit 194); I-75 at Cook Road (Exit 212); I-75 at Mackinaw Highway (Exit 337); and I-75 at C-58 (Exit 301).

The system will be expanded in the near future with another 12 stations in our viewing area. There are currently 12 additional stations already in place and operational in the Upper Peninsula.

So, what do you think? Money well spent for safety's sake or not? Let me know, please leave a comment below.