A camera installed at the intersection of Broadway and Roy will be part of an "intelligent traffic system" being activated citywide, Seattle Department of Transportation spokesperson Peg Nielsen tells CHS. The Broadway camera is not online yet but will be use to detect congestion and accidents and monitor roadway conditions, Nielsen said.
Photo by: Matt Westervelt uploaded to flickr
"If we have a snow event, we can see what is happening this time," Nielsen said. She said the cameras will be used for traffic monitoring only.
Nielsen said she will provide a list of additional cameras to be installed and said that eventually, the new cameras will be added to the roster of city traffic cams available for anybody to view. The citywide system is not expected to start being used until March 2010 with the cameras becoming available online in the "later phase" of the project, Nielsen said.
Nielsen is also looking into and will contact CHS with information regarding the budget for the program and how it is being paid for by SDOT. The department's expenditures are under scrutiny as the 2010 city budget is being finalized and political campaigns kick into the homestretch before the November election.
Capitol Hill is no stranger to city surveillance cameras. In 2008, the mayor's office authorized installation of cameras in Cal Anderson Park.
Recently, Medina added cameras to keep track of every car entering the tony eastside community.
In the original version of this post, the program was incorrectly referred to as an 'intelligent transportation system' by SDOT. We have corrected the post.