Traffic Flow Cameras

To help keep Sugar Land motorists moving and enable the City to respond quickly to traffic-related incidents, traffic-management cameras have been installed on Williams Trace Boulevard at the Oyster Creek bridge.

The fixed-mount cameras are able to monitor the public roadway only, and the transmissions are not recorded. The images captured by the cameras are transmitted to the City's traffic operations center, where technicians are able to continuously monitor and remotely alter traffic signal timing. This affords the City the ability to respond quickly to traffic incidents.

The program, federally funded with a 20 percent local match, has been implemented in the City through a partnership between Sugar Land and the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT).

Traffic cameras have been widely used in the Houston metropolitan area on interstate highways. This is the first traffic-monitoring camera in Sugar Land. The traffic-monitoring system is planned to be expanded to U.S. Highway 90A, Sweetwater Boulevard near the mall and State Highway 6 near U.S. Highway 59.

Part of the computerized traffic management system, the traffic cameras will eventually enable City staff to have a more proactive role in the management of Sugar Land's traffic signal system. The City negotiated the takeover of the operation and maintenance of TxDOT's traffic signals located within Sugar Land. The takeover occured during 2002 and is expected to enable the City to provide a more efficient traffic signal system for residents by incorporating new technology into the existing system.