Good Question: What are those traffic arms on the Thruway?

VICTOR, N.Y. — If your summer road trips have taken you on the New York State Thruway, maybe you’ve seen a new safety feature at several exits in our area.

A traffic gate is maybe not what you’d expect to see when you’re driving at 65 miles per hour on the Thruway, and you won’t see it in action, at least not during the summer months.

Typically you’ll see traffic arms like this at railroad crossings or entrances to private parking lots. But this one is on the New York State Thruway.

A News10NBC viewer Wilfred asks: ‘What are these new arms to stop traffic on the thruway?’

The New York State Thruway Authority said it’s called an “Emergency Ramp Control Gate.” Its main purpose? To help snow plows during the winter months.

The Thruway Authority says the first of these gates was installed in Western New York in 2011. More were installed last year. Crews will continue to install them at each Thruway interchange in the Central New York region.

So how do they help? The Thruway Authority said:

“The installation of emergency closure gates prevents traffic from entering the roadway and allows maintenance workers and State Police to focus on snow and ice response and emergency incidents on our system.”

The closest gate to Rochester is at Exit 44 – heading to Canandaigua and Victor.

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