How’s traffic moving? This Bellingham crew watches and can ease gridlock
Inside a dark and windowless room at the Bellingham Public Works Department offices on Pacific Street, Steve Haugen has a bird’s-eye view of the entire city.
There, Haugen can watch computer screens that show images from more than 300 cameras across the city, including major intersections and public buildings like City Hall and the Whatcom Museum.
Haugen, who is superintendent of traffic, parking and fiber, said the camera system allows Public Works employees to monitor gridlock caused by a car wreck or other issue and then alter traffic signals to ease congestion.
They work with traffic data and computer simulations to coordinate signal timing plans in advance, allowing them to react to traffic backups in real-time, using video from the cameras, Haugen told The Bellingham Herald in a Thursday, March 23, interview.
“(We can) extend green light times of off-ramps and things to get people detoured through town around the incident,” he said during a March 1 public tour of the building.
A wreck on Interstate 5 can wreak havoc with surface streets in the city, especially during the afternoon commute, said Public Works Director Eric Johnston.
“Pretty soon you get all the traffic coming down off of Samish and onto Lakeway. That screws up our system and we can coordinate the timing of those (lights) to get the system flowing again,” Johnston said during the March 1 tour.
Cameras at street corners and other key locations can also help dispatchers at the What-Comm 911 center, Haugen told The Herald.
“It allows for a faster response,” he said. “They love the camera system. It gives them eyes and ears across more of the city.”
