State DOT — or Someone — Tracking Local Traffic

Thick black wires began being placed area roads recently. One so alarmed a resident, it prompted a call to Northport police.

Although the wires are simply attached to traffic counters, why they are there is somewhat of a mystery.

Those placed on Woodbine Avenue were deployed by a consultant through the New York State Department of Transportation traffic group office in Albany, according to NYSDOT public information officer Eileen Peters.

"They are routine counters and should remain for about a week at each location," she said. Traffic counts are usually taken on state roads every three years and the data is mostly used to meet required federal clean-air monitoring standards. The data gathered is also used to maintain our traffic count program." 

Woodbine Avenue is not a state road however, even though the state contributed $640,000 to its restoration in 2005. And neither is Main Street. State route 25A, obviously, is.

The contractors said they were working for the state DOT, but Peters said that, after checking with all NYSDOT divisional groups here, none were aware of any survey operations on Main Street in Northport scheduled in the past few weeks.

Incidentally, reports from the traffic count program are available on the DOT's website under the “How do I” drop down menu on the home page and counts from Woodbine Avenue have been included in previous reports.