Lights, no camera, action

Published 6:00 am Saturday, July 15, 2017

Anyone driving through Athens along U.S. 72 can cruise easy knowing their travel habits are not being recorded by what appear to be cameras at traffic-light intersections.

Seth Burkett, public information officer for the Alabama Department of Transportation’s North Region, said the microwave radar detectors along 72 are part of a resurfacing project between Jefferson Street to McCulley Mill Road and are used to detect traffic in the area.

The devices have always been around traffic lights, Burkett said. They just haven’t always been visible.

“When someone pulls up, pretty much every intersection had a signal in the pavement that sent a message to the signal cabinet that a vehicle is waiting,” he said.

Moving the radar detectors outside the pavement makes it easier for workers.

“That way, if something needs to be replaced, we don’t have to go into the pavement,” Burkett said, adding that the detectors are not cameras and cannot take pictures.