Date:
Friday, January 19, 2007
Contact:
WSDOT NCRegion Traffic/Maintenance Engineer Jennene Ring
(509) 667-3080 E-Mail: ringj@wsdot.wa.gov
WSDOT NCRegion Communications Manager Jeff Adamson (509) 667-2815 E-Mail: adamsoj@wsdot.wa.gov
WENATCHEE - The North Central WSDOT Region’s newest traffic camera is now available to the public on the Department’s Traffic and Roads web page: http://wsdot.wa.gov/traffic/nccam.aspx?cam=4030
And the North Central Region camera page: www.wsdot.wa.gov/regions/northcentral/camera.cfm
The new camera is located 1,500 feet from the entrance to the Loup Loup Ski Area at milepost 215 on SR 20 in Okanogan County. The camera faces east. A Road Weather Information Station (RWIS) was also installed, providing real-time weather and road conditions. The camera/RWIS installation has been a priority in order to provide Methow Valley and Okanogan Valley SR 20 commuters as well as recreationists with better information to make better travel decisions. The installation also provides WSDOT maintenance technicians with better information to determine which region highways need attention first during weather events.
The $50,000 camera/RWIS system, paid for from a federal traveler information grant, presented a technical challenge. The communications link utilizes a series of mountain top microwave repeaters to get the data from the 4,020 foot summit of the pass to Wenatchee, more than 65 air-miles away. The RWIS and antenna installation was complete in October and the camera and microwave connections were complete earlier this month. After testing, the image and weather information was made available to the public on the internet today.
The Loup Loup camera becomes the Region’s 20th and the second in Okanogan County. In addition to the first camera, at Riverside on US 97, the next likely location for another Okanogan County camera is at the border crossing near Oroville in time for the 2010 Olympics in British Columbia. The last camera added to the internet in the region, was a year ago (January ’06) on US 2/97, looking south at the SR 285 north entrance into Wenatchee.
###
< Back to News Home