New Traffic Cams Offer New Help For Commuters

KING COUNTY - King County hopes to provide commuters with another weapon in the daily fight against traffic congestion. The county has launched a new network of live traffic cameras that will allow drivers to check conditions, not on freeways, but on busy secondary streets.

"Not everybody takes the freeway to get to work," said Rochelle Ogershok with the county's Transportation Department. "Secondary roads are the backbone of our transportation network and commuters must be able to find out what conditions are like."

The new system of cameras will allow motorists to logon to a county-operated Web site and view six different locations. The county plans to add more cameras over the next few weeks.

The cameras were initially intended to provide critical data for the county's traffic engineers. But officials figured commuters could benefit from viewing the cameras as well.

Over the coming months the site will ask for feedback from users which will help determine the future of the project.

For More Information:

www.metrokc.gov/mycommute/