Authorities send Amber Alerts to cellphones to notify the public that a child has been reported abducted.
Using the same technology, this winter the Minnesota Department of Transportation will begin using what is known as Wireless Emergency Alerts to let motorists know when a highway or freeway is expected be closed for four hours or longer due to an emergency or weather.
"We can push a message to them so they can avoid a road closure that will hinder their travel or when there are unsafe conditions so they don't get trapped," said Brian Kary, director of MnDOT's Transportation Systems Management and Operations.
A sample alert might appear like this: "EMERGENCY ALERT — The I-90 corridor is closed from the South Dakota border to Albert Lea due to blizzard conditions. Go to www.511mn.org for more information and updates."
The alerts will augment other ways MnDOT already warns motorists, including through social media, overhead and roadside electronic signs, and its 511 highway travel information website, Kary said.
When weather — snow, ice, flooding — or serious and fatal crashes prompt a shutdown, MnDOT will sent a message to cell phones within 1 mile of either side of the highway and within 10 miles of the closure. The nature of an emergency could require a larger area for notifications and specifics will be determined on a case-by-case basis, the agency said.
Phones won't be inundated with messages, Kary said.
"The likelihood is a handful of times a year," he said. "You won't get alerts for things that are miles away from you. Just notifications as you are approaching that scene."
