I just noticed what look like some kind of traffic cameras at the intersection of Washington and Crafts Streets, and they’re kind of hard to miss, so I’m guessing they’re pretty new. Does anyone know if we’re trying out red light cameras, or what else they might be? I can try to find out if they’re a permanent addition, or a test, or something that will be moved around to different busy intersections, but maybe someone from the Public Safety Committee already knows the answer?
New traffic monitoring devices in Newton Corner?
by Jerry Reilly | Mar 17, 2013 | Newton Corner, traffic | 13 comments
Similar cameras in other parts of the state are traffic sensors, a replacement for the in-pavement wire loops that control the light cycle. I’d be willing to bet that’s what these are. They’re more reliable than the loops, especially once the pavement has had a chance to, uh, shift around a bit.
Interesting. They’re not the most attractive thing, but whatever works, I guess. I wonder how they will hold up in wind?
What Doug said. It’s a much cheaper fix than repairing the sensors in the pavement. There are a lot of these sensor type cameras already in service around the city.
There are a handful of actual cameras too around Boston on highways, but mostly for security purposes, I think. The police are unable to issue citations based on cameras in Mass.
I hope they turn into red light cameras, there are some serious scofflaws at this intersection.
(Btw not to quibble but I believe this area is actually considered to be Newtonville)
I think they might be traffic light controls for approaching fire trucks. Sensors in the trucks change the lights to allow safer travel through intersections for trucks responding to emergencies.
I wonder if Sovereign Bank’s new location at that intersection– just west of Tedeschi — was a factor in additional surveillance? The entrance to the bank parking lot is essentially the fourth “road” of the intersection. It is not typical to have a commercial driveway part of a municipal traffic configuration, in fact, it is usual for there to be a minimum amount of separation between them. Security or safety considerations?
@TheWholeTruth New signals are supposedly equipped with Opticom though I’m not sure exactly what they look like relative to motion cameras and I haven’t seen a case yet where an emergency vehicle used it. It sounds like a great feature!
Yes those are motion detecting installations, they are typically much better for bicycles and motorcycles which in many cases would not trigger the loop detectors. If you get a good look at the “lens” you will not see a typical camera it looks more like a fly’s eye. This is a new overhead setup and they come standard I believe.
The Whole Foods is considered the Newtonville Whole Foods so I think this is Newtonville 😉
These are motion detectors, not surveillance cameras, as John on Central indicated. The Sovereign Bank paid for the reconfiguration of the intersection and traffic signal improvements as part of the special permit it received from the Board of Aldermen.
I got confirmation of a lot of the above, from a very helpful Director of Transportation Bill Paille, who fortuitously happened to be stopping by the City Hall Engineering Dept while I was there to inquire about this. (Turns out that was the wrong place, because Traffic is at the Crafts St. office.)
These are traffic sensor cameras as Doug said, that do the same thing as traffic loops. (Not, as I wondered, looking down the street and noting oncoming cars.) And paid for by Sovereign Bank as part of traffic mitigation, as Ted said. I thought they might have been, because that fourth camera is helping their customers get out of the parking lot, but it was by requirement, not necessarily by choice. And they won’t be any use for recording getaway cars.
The angle of coverage can be adjusted to focus on the area where the loop would be, and they would pick up a bicycle waiting, as well as a car. They are infrared and stand up to wind well, although aesthetically they are not likely to improve in appearance. They do not record anything or take pictures, just trigger the traffic lights.
It costs about $2,000 to replace a traffic loop that’s damaged, whether from frost heaves or digging by the city, National Grid, Verizon, or whatever. So in areas like West Newton or Nonantum where there is expected to be more frequent road work, the city is likely to use more of these cameras instead of the wire loops, because the cameras will cost less in the long run. Absent any road work or other damage, wire loops should last 10 years or more.
This set of cameras do not have Opticom. But there are three Opticom-equipped intersections in the city: Watertown & Crafts, by the fire station, Washington & Comm Ave, by another station, and Walnut & Cabot, probably because it’s close to NNHS. The two near fire stations can be controlled from inside the station, so the fire trucks can get out fast, and the Walnut & Cabot one can be controlled from an approaching fire truck.
Pursuant to Chestnut Hill Square’s special permit, New England Development will pay to install Opticom equipment in the remaining fire engines without it and to install Opticom systems on Route 9 at each of the intersections that will be improved in connection with the project.
Though Washington/Crafts is not somewhere I’d ride my bike, motion sensors are a godsend for cyclists. Underground sensors don’t detect bicycles (or some motorcycles) — you’ll never get a green light until/unless a car comes along. Worst offenders for me in Newton are Comm. Ave./Lowell Ave. intersection right by Newton City Hall, and Comm. Ave/Centre Street. In neighboring Weston, Comm. Ave./Newton Street intersection is worse only because there isn’t even a pedestrian crossing option.
Thanks for clarification– this is all as I suspected, but in better detail than I knew. As a cyclist, it will be good to test these out, though as dulles indicates none of those are my favorite cycling intersections- though I still will be passing them frequently.
Ad for Washington/Crafts, I never noticed a lot of light-runners, but it is busy. Maybe that’s because I’m used to the people flatly ignoring the red light – on every cycle- in Newton Corner at the crosswalk/ramp to the Pike West.
Yet another Doug