Las Cruces Installs Traffic Cameras To Eventually Help Drivers’ Plans

By Doug Wernet

LAS CRUCES — City officials have installed new traffic cameras at two of the busiest intersections in Las Cruces, which they say are not for catching traffic violators, but rather to monitor what’s happening on the streets.

The transportation department will monitor the camera viewpoints, watching the general traffic flow to make sure all is moving as it should.

The plan is for the images to automatically refresh andbe made available to drivers on the city’s website so that they can plan their travel around them.

At $15,000 per camera, some residents are concerned whether the price will be outweighed by the cameras’ utility.

“I just think it’s a waste of money going online to see how traffic is. It’s not worth the money spent on that at all,” said Rebecca Mondragon.

City Manager Terrence Moore felt the city’sexpenditure was justified and the pilot program will come to fruition as time goes on.

“This is a small expenditure in my mind, but now we’ll be able to do as much as we can. I have no concerns about that whatsoever and eventually the community will see where we’re coming from,” said Moore.