CAMERAS were placed around Wodonga yesterday to monitor traffic flows as part of a $100,000 study which will help shape the city’s ring road plans and the future of High Street.
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The cameras were in operation from 7am through to the peak of evening traffic in various sites including Melbourne Road, Pearce Street, Brockley Street, the Bandiana Link Road, Elgin Boulevard, Lawrence Street and the Murray Valley Highway.
Numberplates of vehicles were snapped by the cameras with the results to be collated and analysed by traffic data company Austraffic, which has been engaged by CPG consultants who in turn have been employed by Wodonga Council.
The council’s engineering and parks service manager Leon Schultz said the technology allowed the numberplates to be tracked so a car could be cross-referenced as it drove to work and then returned home later.
“It’s a snapshot of what’s happening on a particular day, they’ve tried to choose a day that it not affected by holidays or sporting events,” Mr Schultz said.
The study was largely funded by VicRoads with the government department providing $90,000 and the remainder contributed by the council.
Mr Schultz said the council would meet the consultants next month to assess the recordings and the details were expected to be included in a report which will be provided to councillors in late June or early July.
“It’s unlikely that this survey will indicate any changes to the ring road,” Mr Schultz said.
“It’s really to determine how successful the ring road system is going to be and to look at the reclassification of High Street.”
As part of the ring road, High Street is likely to be changed from a state road to a local road with the council having responsibility for its maintenance.
The shopping strip may also have its speed limit reduced and the traffic figures are expected to guide that decision.
The Wodonga Council has previously flagged its intention to have a ring road system completed by the 2011-12 financial year.
It will include the Bandiana Link Road, Victoria Cross Parade, Beechworth Road, Yarralumla Drive and Melrose Drive with the aim to take traffic out of the shopping heart of the city.