![]() | |||
| |||
|
|||
Recent Articles
|
« Older: Clarksville Transit System considers Downtown Shuttle Newer: Clarksville Fire Rescue Annual Hydrant Flushing, Testing underway »
Austin Peay State University GIS student Bryndon Rhoton’s road closure map unveiled on Clarksville’s new websiteAustin Peay State University (APSU)
![]() Bryndon Rhoton, a computer information systems junior at Austin Peay State University, designed the road closure map on the City of Clarksville’s website. That map – which will allow city and county agencies to communicate to each other and to the public about such everyday hindrances as road repaving and water outages – was the creation of Austin Peay student Bryndon Rhoton, a computer information systems junior. Rhoton led the project from its genesis in January, creating and designing the map from scratch and communicating with several city and county departments, such as the Clarksville-Montgomery County E-911 Center and the Clarksville Street Department. “It’s daunting to think about it because everybody in Clarksville-Montgomery County can see this,” Rhoton said. “But a map like this matters to all of us, it gets information out to the public a lot more quickly than conventional ways. I just click, and the information is there.” How We Got HereThe story of this city-county-university partnership begins as most stories do – with parking. Rhoton has been working with Austin Peay police on a tool to more clearly communicate parking lot and road closures on campus. That project is still in development. “We mentioned to (city and county officials) we’re doing this thing, and something bigger came from it,” said GIS Center Director Mike Wilson. “‘If you’re doing that for campus, can you do that for us?’ Initially, we were thinking just about parking lots.” “What they liked was the simplicity and efficiency of relaying information to the public such as road closures, road work, service outages,” Rhoton said. “From this idea, we created a dashboard so the public could easily access information by clicking on some of the features.” Rhoton has worked on the map about three months, and he spent most of the time talking with various departments about getting information onto the map. He needed about two weeks to build the web application and dashboard. What’s On The Map![]() Austin Peay State University GIS Center Project Manager Doug Catellier jokes with Rhoton at the GIS Center. “The (city and county) departments are actually running the site,” GIS Center Project Manager Doug Catellier said. “They have access to put the road closures in there, to put in future work projects.” Currently, the Clarksville Street Department, the Montgomery County Highway Department, Clarksville Gas & Water and the E-911 Center are providing data for the map. The map tracks city and county road closures, road blocks, road work, problems at intersections, water outages and wrecks. Catellier and Wilson expect to add more departments and information to the map. And a street department worker easily can add road maintenance information. “With two or three button clicks, they can have the road closure drawn out on the map,” Rhoton said. “I tried to make it as painless as possible.” For Clarksville Mayor Joe Pitts, the map is good way to extend services to residents. “Governments have invested a lot of money in mapping technology, so if we can find ways to share this kind of information with citizens, I’m all for it,” Pitts said. “If we can save people time and money by sharing a road closures map to their phones, then by all means, I want that on our website.” Everyday Use, And For EmergenciesThe map is useful to government agencies, such as local law enforcement, the Clarksville-Montgomery County School System and the Montgomery County Emergency Management Agency. “It gives them one main source to find this information, not only for these departments to know when these roads are closed, but also the public,” Catellier said. City and county agencies will use the map most initially, Wilson said, but he expects the public will use it as more features are added. “Most likely, the map will be used during flood events, during emergencies,” he said. “We’ve been looking for ways we can do more for the community,” Wilson added. “We do so much for the city and the county, and other government agencies, but we’re trying to do more that the public can see.” Rhoton is proud of his work. “I try to make these maps the best that I can to represent the GIS Center,” Rhoton said. “I tell Doug and Mike all the time, that’s my job. I want to make a good product.”
To Learn More
SectionsEducationTopicsAPSU, APSU Department of Computer Science and Information Technology, APSU GIS Center, APSU Police, Austin Peay State University, City of Clarksville, Clarksville, Clarksville Gas & Water Department, Clarksville Mayor, Clarksville Montgomery County School System, Clarksville Street Department, Clarksville TN, Clarksville-Montgomery County, CMCSS, Doug Catellier, Joe Pitts, Mike Wilson, Montgomery County Emergency Management Agency, Montgomery County Highway Department, Road Closures |
Archives
|
|
© 2006-2021 Clarksville, TN Online is owned and operated by residents of Clarksville Tennessee.
|
Comments
You must be logged in to post a comment.