Cameras will be installed along O Street in downtown Lincoln on Wednesday and Thursday on traffic signal arms and streetlight poles to gather information as part of the city’s Downtown Corridors Project.
The project, in the planning stages for six years, involves upgrades to the major downtown corridors to make them safer, more attractive and encourage people to linger there. It includes four corridors: Ninth Street from K to S streets, 10th Street from K to S streets, 11th Street from N to Q streets and 14th Street from O to P streets.
The cameras will be installed between 13th Street and Centennial Mall to evaluate curbside and traffic activity to evaluate a new parking strategy in the area and will include temporary lane closures, city officials said in a news release.
Automotus will install the cameras through a partnership with Park and Go. Automotus is a Los Angeles software company that uses cameras to collect data on curb parking activity and compiles the information for cities to use to set policy.
“The data collected will provide us with a deeper understanding of curbside and traffic activity in one of our busiest downtown areas,” said Tony Bisesi, city parking manager. “This information is crucial for making informed decisions that will improve safety, accessibility and overall urban mobility in Lincoln.”
The study is part of a pilot project of what’s called “dynamic parking” that city officials are considering implementing along O Street from Ninth Street to Centennial Mall.
The new parking strategy would create pick-up and drop-off spots to better serve businesses and create higher turnover.
It will test the use of signs, increased monitoring and enforcement of the stalls to improve the ability of drivers to find on-street parking and loading, and improve short-term access to local businesses and residents.
City officials will use the cameras to monitor current parking and curbside activity for three months, then implement a short-term parking strategy based on that analysis to see how it works, and get feedback from local businesses, said Urban Development Director Peter Hind.
The cameras will capture and analyze data but will maintain privacy by looking only at vehicle types and counts, length of stay, usage, stall vacancies, and other parking behaviors and patterns. Pedestrian, bicycle, scooter, skateboard and wheelchair traffic also will be analyzed.
For more information, go to the Downtown Corridors Project website.
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