A worker recently installed a video camera at Mendocino Avenue at Steele Lane, part
of a program allowing Santa Rosa traffic officials to monitor traffic at various intersections.
Next to the streetlight at top are traffic detection cameras that are linked to the intersection's traffic signals. Photo courtesy of a Road Warrior reader.

Santa Rosa officials have a new weapon in their battle against traffic congestion: Live video cameras.

Crews have been installing cameras across the city, recently at Mendocino Avenue and Steele Lane, that allow traffic officials to tap into a video feed to check on traffic flow.

Traffic Engineer Robert Sprinkle said the city installed the cameras at several major intersections where officials have received complaints about traffic. By monitoring the traffic, he said, officials can make adjustments to stop lights. The cameras are not used for enforcement of traffic laws.

Four of the cameras are up and running: Sebastopol Road at Stony Point Road, Guerneville Road at Marlow Road, Guerneville Road at Cleveland Avenue and Steele Lane at Illinois Street. Another camera will be installed at Bicentennial Way at Mendocino Avenue.

The cameras (see photo above) look like surveillance cameras you see in parking lots and in some stores. They’re not to be mistaken with other traffic cameras (again, please see photo above) that are tied in to traffic signals and that are used to detect traffic, or the lack of it, to make the signals more efficient.

Sprinkle said the city doesn’t record the video feeds, so officials can’t go back to check on accidents and such. Eventually, he said, he’d like to put the feeds online for public viewing.