Cameras help ease Wilmington traffic

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — Waiting for a traffic light to turn green can be frustrating. The City of Wilmington is out to make your commute much easier.

In a joint project with the state Department of Transportation, the city has installed 30 cameras at major intersections in Wilmington. Engineers can operate the cameras in a control room to manage traffic flow on overcrowded roads. The new system will allow better timing and coordination of traffic signals.

“For example, during the construction of Independence Blvd., we’ve used the cameras to notice that lanes were shut down in real time, made adjustments to the traffic signals to try to reallocate that green and reduce delay for the motorists,” city traffic engineer Don Bennett said. “We’ve seen motor vehicle accidents where multiple lanes are blocked, and we will either retime that individual signal, or if we notice people are detouring around the incident to other signals, we can make adjustments to those.”

The project has been in the works for the past seven years and cost $8 million. You check the cameras online before you hit the road.