Cameras installed at new stop lights

To help traffic flow near university

Business Today

Several feet above the new traffic signals at the intersection of Sprigg and Normal streets in Cape Girardeau -- an entrance to Southeast Missouri State University -- cameras sit atop thin poles, 25 feet above the pavement, for a bird's-eye view down both streets.

Cape Girardeau city officials say these cameras - the first placed at any intersection by the city - are not looking to catch motorists disobeying the law. They're to assist in the movement of traffic.

The cameras, or detection devices as the city calls them, will detect vehicles, much like the under-pavement wire loops do at most intersections in the city. The detection devices will tell the controller when a car is stopped at the intersection so it will know when to change.

The cameras are being paid for by the university as part of an agreement with the city to do the traffic-signal project, city engineer Mark Lester said.

The cost of the entire project, including the traffic signals, is $176,188, including $83,550 to be paid by the university. The camera technology will cost $17,000 more than the under-pavement loops, but the cameras can do more. Unlike the conventional under-pavement system, the cameras have a long-range capability of detecting traffic several hundred feet away.

This will come in handy, especially during special events at the Show Me Center, said project manager Abdul Alkadry of the city's engineering department.

He said there are no monitors or recording equipment attached to the cameras. The cameras will be cost-effective to maintain since workers will no longer have to tear up the street to make repairs to traditional sensor equipment.

For this reason, Tim Gramling, assistant public works director, said motorists may see more of these detection devices in the future. However, there is nothing in the city's plans at this point to upgrade.

There is already one such detection device in Cape Girardeau, at the intersection of Route K and Interstate 55, but it was installed and operated by the Missouri Department of Transportation, MoDOT district engineer Stan Johnson said.