Radar-based traffic detectors can replace in-pavement loops used to detect vehicles at stoplights, and the City of Oak Ridge has long-term plans to move to the radar systems. Above is a radar detector at Oak Ridge Turnpike and West Main Street, in front of Walgreen’s, on Thursday, Dec. 10, 2015. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
Radar-based traffic detectors at six intersections in Oak Ridge can replace in-pavement loops used to detect vehicles at stoplights, and the city has long-term plans to move to the radar-based systems.
The detectors will be installed on the new stoplight on Oak Ridge Turnpike in front of Oak Ridge High School. They are also included in a plan to improve two intersections on Oak Ridge Turnpike, one at South Tulane Avenue and the other at East Division Road/Tennyson Road.
“We have kind of adopted them because they just work,” said Jon van Eek, power utilization program supervisor in the Oak Ridge Electric Department.
The city has previously tried video detection systems and microwave systems. The video systems did not work well in heavy rain and fog, and had some angle of light issues, according to van Eek and Oak Ridge Electric Director Jack Suggs.
“It was not reliable,” van Eek said Friday. [Read more…]
