Video Cameras Tracking Traffic

The next time you drive through the intersection of Division and Wellesley, be sure to smile.

The city of Spokane is taking your picture.

Video cameras were mounted on the cross-arms of the traffic lights about a year ago.

The cameras don’t really show drivers’ faces. The images are not detailed enough for that.

Rather, the cameras keep track of vehicles as they approach or stop at the intersection, telling the traffic light’s control box when to switch the lights from red to green.

It is the latest technology in traffic control and is designed to minimize delays at traffic lights.

The city now has six video-controlled traffic lights. The others on the North Side are at Market and Euclid, Market and Garland, Division and Magnesium, and Division and Queen.

The only South-Side video intersection is 29th and Southeast Boulevard.

Eight more video-controlled signals are being sought at a cost of about $20,000 each.

Until now, signals at major intersections have had wires installed in the pavement to control left-turn arrows and traffic during off-peak hours.

Video technology has been adapted so a camera will now detect cars approaching the intersection, and change the light to green as soon as possible, said Bruce Steele, transportation director for the city.

Steele said the new technology is not related to the proposed use of cameras to catch Spokane motorists running red lights.

The cameras regulating stoplights register a small image that sends a message to the signal controller.

Steele said the advantage to the new technology is its reliability. Stoplights with wires in the pavement have a history of malfunctioning when the pavement becomes rutted.

Jack Sikes, a traffic engineer for the city, said the video controls can be adjusted from a portable personal computer that he keeps with him all the time.

If an intersection light malfunctions, Sikes said he can make a telephone-type connection to the intersection, which sends him the cameras’ video images and other information on controlling the intersection. He can fix the problem even while traveling out of town, he said.

Some of the video lights are linked to the main city traffic computer, which sets the timing of traffic lights to keep vehicles moving along major routes.

Sikes said the city is seeking bids on the eight new video signals.

They will be installed at Central and Division, Division and Francis, Division and Rowan, Five Mile and Ash, Five Mile and Maple, Indian Trail and Barnes, Indian Trail and Pacific Park, and Indian Trail and Shawnee.

The state will pay for the signals on Division.

Road construction is planned or is occurring on those routes. On Indian Trail, the signals are being ordered well in advance of completion, partly because it takes several months to fill orders. Also, technicians will test the devices in the city’s shops before they are installed at the intersections, he said.

Steele said the city plans to convert other signals to the new technology as replacements become necessary.

, DataTimes