Temporary replacement for sensors that activate signal lights
Jun 18, 2009 - 03:28 PM
By Reka Szekely
AJAX -- South Ajax residents wondering about recently installed cameras at Burcher Road and Bayly Street can rest assured they won't be caught on film.
It's not a red-light camera and it's not for monitoring the nearby Ajax High School, as some have speculated.
Instead, the cameras are a temporary replacement for the sensors normally installed in the asphalt which trip the light when a car is waiting on Burcher, the side street.
"Those cameras themselves are directed straight down at the road at the pavement and they can tell the difference when a vehicle arrives and tells the traffic controller, which is the computer for the signal light," said Joel Walker, traffic engineering supervisor for the Region of Durham.
Bayly is a regional road and the cameras will be there until the lights are replaced.
"The signals themselves have reached their life expectancy, it's a scheduled rebuild program that we have," said Mr. Walker.
The alternative to the cameras was letting the light cycle, but that's inefficient given that Bayly drivers could get a red when there's no car waiting on Burcher.
Mr. Walker said the Region occasionally gets these questions when work is being done. However, residents don't have to worry about being caught on camera.
"We have no red-light cameras in Durham."
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