By ERICA ESTEP
6 News Reporter
SEVIERVILLE (WATE) - Traffic cameras are helping ease congestion in Sevierville, one of the busiest tourist destinations in East Tennessee.
The high tech tools aren't meant to generate money with citations, and creators of the system say they could have a positive effect on air quality as well.
6 News reported on the first GridSmart camera to go up in Sevierville in 2009 at the intersection of Highway 66 and Main Street.
Now there are eight cameras, most along the Highway 66 corridor.
Before the cameras were installed, Sevierville police officers were manually changing traffic lights during peak tourist season.
Police Chief Don Myers explained what a problem the constant construction on the stretch of road between Interstate 40 and downtown Sevierville caused for his department. "It took officers off the road. It cost a lot of money in regular time and in overtime. Plus it just wore the officers out."
It's not a problem anymore as completion of the first phase of the Highway 66 widening project has eased the bottleneck leading into Sevierville.
City officials say the high tech tool that's high above many intersections helps keep drivers moving, too.
"More asphalt and having those cameras to detect where the cars are at and detect when they need to turn or need to keep going is the key to keeping that traffic going," Chief Myers said.
The small, bell-shaped cameras are posted above busy intersections, and they work with a computer software program called GridSmart. It was created by Knoxville company Aldis Inc., to operate traffic signals.
"This differs from traditional video detection and traditional loop detection in the road because we're using a single lens camera," explained Aldis Vice President of Marketing Brian Shockley. "It's an ultra wide angle lens that sees the entire intersection and monitors vehicles using very sophisticated tracking algorithms developed by our software team."
Creators and police say the cameras are not meant for enforcement. "No, the cameras we have are not designed to detect speed or running red lights or stop signs or anything where you would place those. They focus straight down on the intersection," Chief Myers explained.
Shockley says the system couldn't be used for enforcement. "It's not even capable of reading a license plate, does not even have the resolution to read a license plate. The system is purely to detect vehicles and say, there is a vehicle there."
Myers says his police department has seen significant improvement in traffic flow with the six-lane widening project and the Aldis camera system, and they expect it will get even better.
"With the completion of phase one, we noticed a significant improvement in traffic flow and how long people were sitting in traffic at intersections, but of course we won't realize the full effects until the completion of all three phases of the plan," Myers said.
The Sevierville project was an experiment of sorts to see if the system would work effectively.
It's paid off big for Aldis, which has been in existence less than five years, and seen a business boom since the project.
"It's really been a launching pad for us," said Shockley. "The Great Smoky Mountain National Park is one of the most visited national parks nationwide. So this has been a proving ground for us. Since that time of installation, we've grown very rapidly. We now have deployments in approximately half of the U.S. and provinces, and over 14 countries worldwide including South America, Europe, the Middle East and as far as Australia."
Sevierville officials say the high tech tool that's high above many intersections helps keep drivers moving, too.
The cameras are posted above busy intersections, and they work with a computer software program called GridSmart.
