Not a speed trap: RMS reveals purpose of new Pacific Highway cameras

More than 80 cameras have been placed along the Pacific Highway in and around Coffs in recent days. Here’s what you need to know about them.

Transport for NSW have installed more than 80 cameras around Coffs Harbour to monitor traffic numbers ahead of construction of the Coffs Harbour Bypass. Photo: Tim Jarrett

The sudden proliferation of cameras along the Pacific Highway through Coffs Harbour has nothing to do with speeding, crime or speeding criminals.

They have everything to do with the long awaited Coffs Harbour bypass according to Transport for NSW, who revealed the cameras were being installed from the beginning of the month to monitor traffic.

In total, there are 83 sites with cameras and TfNSW has made it clear they will only be used by the bypass project team and are not used by NSW Police for enforcement purposes.

71 sites are intersection turn counters, which a TfNSW spokesperson said counts how many vehicles travel through intersections and the percentage of vehicles using the intersections to change direction.

There are also 11 sites conducting origin destination surveys which use video monitoring to analyse traffic flow in an area over different times to collect data regarding trip patterns.

“The data captured by the counters and cameras will be used to update our traffic surveys and modelling, which will help inform the detailed design of the project,” the spokesperson said.

Just a bunch of mates casually turnin’ a sod at the official start of the Coffs Harbour bypass.

There are an additional 60 tube counters, which pneumatic rubber hoses stretched across the road and attached to a data logger recording vehicle numbers each time it compressed.

The cameras and counters began surveys on June 4 and will and collect traffic data for two weeks.

The bypass was officially “started” in December when state and federal politicians came together to turn the first sod at a demolition project on Bruxner Park road.

At that stage almost a third of properties which were to be acquired to make way for the $1.8 billion dollar project were still to be purchased by Transport for NSW.

Since then, tenders for early engineering works have been sought, with the list of potential companies being dominated by out of town firms.