Modesto adding to arsenal of traffic cameras at intersections

Modesto will install cameras at two busy intersections along Briggsmore Avenue as part of what city officials say is their ongoing effort to monitor and improve the flow of traffic.

The cameras will be at Briggsmore and Roselle avenues and Briggsmore and Claus Road. Modesto’s traffic engineering division will monitor the cameras from a room on the fourth floor of Tenth Street Place, the city-county administration center. The room has a bank of monitors that gives staffers a live feed at 29 major intersections, such as Coffee Road and Scenic Drive.

The two new Briggsmore cameras will mean Modesto can monitor traffic at 31 intersections. City workers can change the timing of the signal lights from Tenth Street Place based on what the monitors are showing them.

Traffic Operations Engineer Mark Murphy said generally the signals are timed well enough that the city does not have to change them. But he said workers will adjust the signals based on construction projects that affect traffic and on complaints from drivers. He said the city adjusts the signal lights near Vintage Faire Mall during the holiday shopping season because of the crush of cars heading to and from the mall.

The City Council in the past week approved hiring Carl Joseph Bartaldo Construction of Palo Cedro to add the cameras to the two Briggsmore intersections. The project includes installing fiber-optic cable along Briggsmore between Roselle and Claus. The city is paying the construction company $280,350 for the work, with the funding coming from a federal Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality grant, according to a city report.

Work is expected to start April 25 and end June 30, according to the city report.

Modesto has had traffic cameras for about two decades as part of its advanced traffic management system. Murphy said as federal grant funding becomes available, the city wants to install these cameras along Claus Road, Sylvan Avenue east of Oakdale Road and along Pelandale Avenue.

This story was originally published March 26, 2016 at 3:15 PM with the headline "Modesto adding to arsenal of traffic cameras at intersections."