A great idea.
Just click to avoid traffic nightmares
By Tony Bizjak - Bee Staff Writer
Tuesday, November 14, 2006
In congested Sacramento County, commuters face a daily conundrum: Is traffic maddening on Madison? What's Watt like? Will I be stuck on Sunrise till sunset?
Now you can peek for yourself.
Today the county starts offering drivers clues in real time, through Web cameras with bird's-eye views of six of Sacramento County's toughest intersections.
Via the county Department of Transportation Web site -- http://www.sacdot.com/ -- drivers can get the same view county traffic engineers have of critical commute crossroads:
• Watt Avenue and Fair Oaks Boulevard
• Sunrise Boulevard and Zinfandel Drive
• Sunrise Boulevard and Gold Country Boulevard
• Madison Avenue and Sunrise Boulevard
• Madison Avenue and Auburn Boulevard
• Auburn Boulevard and Watt Avenue.
Those intersections are among 37 that traffic engineers monitor live throughout the day.
In most cases, engineers in the county's Rancho Cordova traffic control center can swivel the cameras to see what's coming and going in each direction. If traffic builds up, engineers can change the traffic signals with a push of a few buttons, and see the results of their work without having to dispatch someone to the site.
