Alberta Transportation crews installed cameras next to the traffic lights at the Hwy. 642/100 St. intersection on March 15. The intersection is one of the two signalized intersections in town; the other one, at 100 St. and Westwinds Drive, has one such camera on Westwinds Dr.
In an email, an Alberta Transportation official speaking on background said the cameras were put in to address local concerns about pedestrian crossing times and traffic flow, and were not used for speed or red-light enforcement.
The cameras, which are permanent, work by detecting vehicles in a set location (such as at a stop line) and adjust signal timing based on traffic – they speed up light changes when there are lots of cars queued up, and slow them down if there are few or none. (St. Albert has similar cameras at most of its intersections.) The cameras do not record images, and you can’t access video from them unless you open up the service cabinet on-site and plug into the controller.
Questions on traffic safety in Morinville should go to Enforcement Services at 780-939-7831.
