BY MATT HERSH

Town officials have their sights on having a new traffic control system, complete with video cameras, ready to go by this fall.

The new system will be the first phase of the town’s Intelligent Transportation System (ITS), a series of projects throughout Salem which will improve traffic and travel, according to Community Development Director William Scott.

Police will control this new resource from their station with the ability to make changes to the town’s flow of traffic, assess dangerous intersections, review accident footage and improve safety.

“Their are a lot of advantages of this,” Scott said. “If there is an accident, it would be beneficial for public officials to report what the safety issues are at that intersection.”

Police will be able to see the scene of an accident before they respond and will have the option of retiming traffic lights to alleviate traffic back up.

The system will make use of six cameras installed near the Rockingham Boulevard and Route 97 intersections along Route 28.  The system will run in conjunction with a similar one planned to be installed on Interstate 93, enabling officials to share their video feeds with state emergency workers.

Using these cameras might also be beneficial during the winter when accidents can occur easily, Scott said.

“Imagine the Department of Public Works being able to see the condition of Route 28 during a snowstorm,” he said. “They could make all of the lights red so they could plow the whole road.”

In addition to giving officials a better look at safety concerns, the new system will also make traffic flow more smoothly because the lights will operate based on traffic levels instead of using a timed cycle.

If police and town officials are trained, Scott said the new system could be ready to use before the holiday season.

But some residents have expressed concern over the prospect of having video cameras mounted above the streets of Salem.

“Just because the money is available, that doesn’t mean that someone in town government has the authority to install cameras with which to watch the actions of drivers on the roads,”  resident Paul Metcalf wrote in a recent letter to The Salem Observer.

Metcalf also stressed that any available town money should go toward alleviating flooding issues – not traffic systems.

Still, Scott said Metcalf has the wrong idea about both the cameras and the funding.

“The ITS uses cameras but they’re only for monitoring traffic conditions,” he said. “The word surveillance is a misnomer.”

In terms of finances, Scott said the $500,000 project will be funded by a portion of a $900,000 federal grant awarded to the town. Impact fees will also be used, Scott said.

Due to the nature of the grant money, Scott said it can only be used for improving transportation in the town and not for flooding issues, despite their severity.