Internet Trafficcam Keeps Eye On Gridlock

Sat., Nov. 28, 1998

From Staff

Holiday shoppers in this Seattle suburb have a new weapon to help them avoid gridlock at the mall.

The city’s TrafficCam network - 17 video cameras scattered around town - can now be accessed by Internet users to check traffic around the city.

That includes cameras on three sides of the popular Bellevue Square shopping mall, where up to 50,000 cars a day exit the parking garage onto some of the city’s busiest streets during the holiday season.

City engineers have used the cameras for years, but this is the first time the public can get at the real-time images.

“After looking at a traffic camera image, a person can decide to perhaps run a few errands before leaving for home, or take a different bridge, or maybe decide traffic was OK and go straight home,” said Dirk Mitchell, a Bellevue traffic engineer.

The traffic images can be found on the Internet at http:/ /traffic.wsdot.wa.gov/nwflow/bellevue

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