Estes Park Trustee Mark Igel sent the Colorado Department of Transportation a list of 18 questions about the cameras being installed along US 36 between Lyons and Estes Park. The email exchange shed light on the project, including why the cameras are spaced closely in some areas and what they can — and cannot — do. The Estes Valley Voice also sought clarification from Lynn Martens, Owner of HeyRed Communications, LLC, and the public information manager for CDOT’s US 36/CO 66 project, and Jared Fiel, DOT Communication Manager, Region 4. This article draws on both sets of responses.
CDOT is installing 27 traffic cameras along U.S. 36 to help its operations center respond to crashes and other incidents and keep drivers informed about road conditions. The cameras will provide live video to CDOT’s Traffic Operations Center, which is staffed around the clock. All 27 feeds will eventually be available to the public on COTrip.org, CDOT spokesperson Lynn Martens said.
The cameras will not record video, collect traffic data, read license plates or measure vehicle speeds. They are not part of an automated speed enforcement system.
“That is all those cameras are used for. They don’t even record,” Jared Fiel, CDOT’s Region 4 communications manager, said in an email to the Voice.
“The main goal is to be able to respond to incidents and clear the road as quickly and safely as possible,” Martens said in a written response to the Voice. Faster clearance can help prevent secondary crashes, she said.
The cameras are spaced to give CDOT views around the canyon’s many curves and turns. Their installation follows an agreement between CDOT and telecommunications company Zayo, originally Crown Castle. The company installed fiber-optic cable and cell service poles in CDOT’s right of way to improve cell and broadband coverage through the canyon. In exchange for use of the right of way, CDOT can mount traffic cameras on the poles. The company also installed a dedicated fiber-optic cable for CDOT, which the project will connect to the agency’s statewide network.
Fiel said the towers are a private company’s project, so CDOT does not know when a company might add similar towers along U.S. 34. The agency has been told to expect more such projects in mountain areas with weak cell coverage, he said.
Martens said the cameras use the same standard equipment CDOT installs elsewhere in Colorado. They provide live video without software that counts or tracks vehicles or automatically detects incidents. CDOT does not collect travel times between cameras, and the equipment cannot recognize license plates.
Fiel distinguished the U.S. 36 cameras from cameras used to monitor speeds in construction zones on Colorado 119 and Interstate 25. He said those are currently CDOT’s only two such uses in Colorado, though the agency expects more in construction work zones. Cameras used for local speed enforcement are operated by municipalities, which must obtain CDOT approval when placing them on a state highway, he said.
Only Traffic Operations Center staff can move or zoom the U.S. 36 cameras. Other viewers, including the public and partner agencies, will use COTrip.org, Martens said.
CDOT may eventually use the fiber connection to monitor traffic signals in Estes Park and Lyons remotely. That would let traffic staff detect a signal failure or adjust its timing without first going to the intersection.
Martens said the project is not a test of new camera technology. CDOT has a similar partnership along U.S. 6 through Clear Creek Canyon.
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