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The upgrades will include thermal cameras for each direction of traffic. Once the system, similar to what’s being used in Phoenix, detects a wrong-way driver, warnings will be flashed on overhead message boards to alert other drivers, said Garin Groff, an Arizona Department of Transportation spokesman said Wednesday during a news conference in Tucson.

The system would simultaneously alert the state Department of Public Safety so troopers can respond more quickly, Groff said.

It will be the first use of this technology in southern Arizona. ADOT expects to have the systems operational by late this year or early next year.

Groff said there may be some shoulder restrictions or “very minor restrictions� in terms of construction, most of which will be done during the day.

The system will be installed at various locations along I-19, including San Xavier Road, Pima Mine Road near Esperanza Boulevard in Green Valley, and near Rio Rico Road and Mariposa Road in Nogales, the department said.

The system can’t prevent wrong-way driving, the department said, but it can notify the public and authorities faster, potentially reducing the time a driver travels the wrong way.

The upgrades are part of a $6.2 million “intelligent transportation systems project,� ADOT said.

The department will consider installing a similar system on Interstate 10 once it begins a major widening project this summer from Kino Parkway to Country Club Road, Groff said.

The announced upgrades coincide with National Work Zone Awareness Week. There were 23 deaths and 33 “serious injuries,� within work zones across Arizona last year, , citing preliminary data. It marks the highest figures over the last five years.