Harrisonville Police Unveil New Traffic Tools
Posted By J.T. on March 31, 2010
The Harrisonville Police Department has put two new radar devices in service to help analyze traffic patterns on city streets while also checking motorists’ speed and warning them when they are exceeding the posted limit.
A new mobile radar trailer and a pole-mounted radar sign were purchased with federal grant funds earlier this year at a combined cost of $8,900 from Decatur Manufacturing. Chief John Hofer says the new equipment has three major capabilities which will assist HPD in keeping city streets safe. First, it will keep a complete count of vehicles which pass from the direction being checked, allowing police to keep data on the amount of traffic carried on any city street. Second, on-board radar in the units will check the speed of any motor vehicle approaching it, and display the speed so drivers can see it. Lastly, if the vehicle’s speed exceeds the posted limit, the display will flash to alert drivers to slow down.
“We placed the trailer on Meadowlark for its test run,” Chief Hofer said, “and within 24 hours, we had a complete, hour-by-hour count of traffic on the residential street. We could even tell at what times of day traffic was heaviest, and when people were most likely to be exceeding the speed limit.”
Hofer said the trailer tallied 2,994 cars on Meadowlark during its first week of operation, with an average speed of 23.55 mph. However, he noted that 1424 motorist were above the posted speed limit and 367 of them were driving more than 6 miles an hour over the posted speed.
The pole-mounted unit is currently installed on Pearl Street. The police department has identified a number of other locations to place the new radar equipment in the coming months. The data gathered will help police determine where and when patrols should be stepped up to curb speeding and reduce traffic crashes. The information on traffic patterns will also be shared with other city departments, such as engineering and streets, to keep streets in optimum condition.
I live near where the one on Pearl in installed. Nearly every passing car exceeds the speed limit, I’ve noticed.