Intersection Cameras Help Keep Cyclists and Motorists Safe

Claremont recently announced the installation of cameras at several intersections that detect vehicle and bicycle traffic and help measure the length of time for the signal lights.

The cameras were placed in areas identified as Bike Priority Zones, or areas where the city emphasizes safe bicycle routes.

The video detection systems, cameras are positioned so they detect vehicles and bicycles without the provision of loops, according to city officials. The cameras replace the road loops embedded in the ground. They preserve the roadway surface, officials said.

“Thanks to this new technology, cyclists no longer need to push a button to be detected at signalized intersections, nor do they need to place their bicycles over the loops cut into the pavement,” Claremont City Manager Tony Ramos wrote in a city report. “In the last few years, several signalized intersections have been upgraded with this technology through the use of grant funds.”

Those intersections are:

• Bonita Avenue at Mountain Avenue
• Bonita Avenue at Cambridge Avenue
• Claremont Boulevard at First Street
• Indian Hill Boulevard at Eighth Street
• Indian Hill Boulevard at Tenth Street
• Base Line Road at Towne Avenue

Claremont city staff has also gotten additional grant funds to provide video detection systems for several intersections on Base Line Road and two intersections on Scripps Drive, Ramos wrote. The equipment was installed and the cameras were supposed to have been activated by the end of last week.

More cameras are scheduled for installation at several intersections. Those are:

• Base Line Road at Live Oak
• Base Line Road at Mountain Avenue
• Base Line Road at Indian Hill Boulevard
• Base Line Road at Mills Avenue
• Base Line Road at Monte Vista/Padua Avenues
• Scripps Drive at Towne Avenue
• Scripps Drive at Mountain Avenue