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COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO. -- The Pikes Peak Area Council of Governments (PPACG) unveiled some stunning technology Tuesday. They said it will help the community get informed and involved about transportation projects in their area.

PPACG demonstrated their new Google Earth transportation planning initiative that uses Google Earth to show 3-D maps of upcoming transportation projects.

They are the first to use this technology for this purpose in the country and they hope residents will take notice.

"It's purpose is to better communicate with the public," Craig Casper, Regional Transportation Director for PPACG, said.

"When we developed the Google Earth project it was communication transparency in decision making, so they can see the project better and understand how we came to the decisions," Casper said.

The website will show environmental data, census data, and traffic information, along with a real life look at what the finished project will look like.

"I think it's a great product," Jim Godfrey, Chair of the PPACG's Citizens' Advisory Committee," said. "One of the challenges that government has and PPACG in particular has is getting information out to the public in a way that they can understand it," he said.

Casper said by getting the community involved sooner it can save time and money.

"The public finds out about it a few years before it start implementation then we get lawsuits that slow us down," Casper said. "If we can show all the projects in the region that are in the long range plan earlier we can work those issues out in the intervening years before we get to that implementation."

Casper said the results could mean millions in savings.

Godfrey said he hopes people will take advantage of the project.

"The people coming up now are technology savvy. They're all over the internet. This is the kind of reaction interaction that they do everyday all day. So I'm hoping that knowing that it's there and the information is there that they can go then and use their own technology and discover it and see it and understand what's going on around the community."

View the new project at ppacg.org