Now, Kentucky motorists have access to www.goky.ky.gov, an "online traffic and roadway information portal," according to a release from the department.

The 511 system that used to guide travelers along Kentucky’s roads and highways was discontinued Wednesday and replaced with a website Kentucky Transportation Cabinet officials are saying will be more efficient.

Now, Kentucky motorists have access to www.goky.ky.gov, an “online traffic and roadway information portal,” according to a release from the department.

Wes Watt, spokesman for KYTC District 3, stationed in Bowling Green, said when anyone calls 511 now, they’ll be redirected to the new site.

The email and text alert service 511 provided has also been discontinued, he said.

“The way people get and give information has changed,” Watt said.

He also said KYTC will be able to update the new system and make it more efficient as technology changes. 

“We’re on the floor of this new technology,” he said. “It’s just going to improve as the technology changes.”

According to the KYTC release, 511’s caller volume has fallen almost 40 percent since 2014, prompting the cabinet to reevaluate the service’s effectiveness.

Watt described the website as a “one-stop shop” for local traffic information in Kentucky, including traffic, construction, accidents and weather.

“It gives us the best real-time information about conditions,” he said.

Naitore Djigbenou, deputy director for KYTC’s office of public affairs, said 511 didn’t have information about weather.

She said the site is mobile-friendly, making it easy to access by phone and more efficient for users than dialing 511.

“It just wasn’t very user-friendly,” she said. “There were a lot of prompts and you had to listen to long messages.”

According to Watt, go.ky.gov is a collaboration between KYTC and Waze Mobile, a company that makes the Waze app, which the group’s website describes as “a community-based traffic and navigation app.”

Go.ky.gov provides updated information every two minutes, based partly on input from users, Watt said.

“If folks are driving down (Interstate) 65 and they see an accident or they see debris or something, the passenger can input that into the system on their phone,” he said.

Watt stressed that KYTC doesn’t want anyone to use the new website while driving.

For people driving alone, the idea is to use the website to gain prior knowledge about the route before getting on the road, he said.

The new website, because it’s largely automated and based on real-time updates from users, is also anticipated to save the state’s taxpayers $750,000 a year, Watt said, because it doesn’t require a great deal of day-to-day maintenance.

“It’s done in-house so we have more control of how it operates on a real-time basis,” he said

Djigbenou said that, while go.ky.gov is already functional, KYTC also plans to integrate Twitter into its new road-monitoring system but is still figuring out how to do that.

“We’re excited to offer this information to Kentucky and people will be able to get it in a more user-friendly way,” she said.

— Follow Daily News reporter Jackson French on Twitter @Jackson_French or visit bgdailynews.com.