A new PennDOT camera mounted near Routes 30 and 283 allows computer users to see Route 30 traffic.
Drivers who want to check out traffic at two major, local intersections before they leave home can now do so.
The state Department of Transportation has announced that new traffic cameras — Lancaster County's first — have been installed at Routes 30 and 283 and at Routes 30 and 501.
Motorists can get a look at what the camera is seeing by checking PennDOT's Web site at www.511PA.com. Once there, computer users can click on maps and look at images from specific cameras.
Along with views from the cameras, the screen also gives the current traffic conditions, weather alerts and average speed of traffic.
Recorded information also can be accessed by calling 511 from any phone.
The two cameras in Lancaster County are still in their 30-day testing phase, but the information from them began to appear on the Web site a few days ago, said PennDOT spokesman Mike Crochunis.
Those cameras were among nine unveiled recently by PennDOT. Lancaster's cameras, installed by Wellington Power, cost $315,980. That funding came through the federal stimulus bill, Crochunis said.
The two cameras are the first of a dozen PennDOT has proposed for the county. Plans call for five additional cameras to be installed at Route 30 interchanges, four more on Route 283 and one on Route 222.
"They are the interchanges that see the most traffic and would generate the most interest with emergency services," Crochunis said.
The additional cameras, along with message boards along the roads, would be added in coming years as funding permits.
The cameras are monitored at PennDOT's District 8 traffic control center near Harrisburg.