Two small camera-like devices mounted on traffic lights at various intersections downtown have people guessing, though neither is the red-light camera some suspect.
Included in the city's plan to overhaul 50 lights in downtown Scranton is the installation of two devices: black emergency personnel preemption receptors and silver traffic detectors.
There is no plan to add red light cameras in the city - a controversial issue brought to the forefront last year when Scranton was among the cities included in the original version of a bill meant to expand Philadelphia's red-light camera program.
The final version of the bill, adopted July 2, allows red-light cameras in Pittsburgh and 14 communities in four suburban counties that surround Philadelphia.
"We have received several calls from people who will see them and ask what they are," state Department of Transportation spokesman James May said. "I think it can be confusing to people because all the recent news, but these are different devices."
Mounted next to traffic signals, the motion detectors identify a car's presence by noting a change in the camera's pixels, relative to when there is no vehicle present, a Bruce & Merrilees Electric representative said.
Bruce & Merrilees, of New Castle, is the electric company responsible for installing the new traffic lights, traffic detectors and preemption receptors.
The company will install 43 detectors at traffic lights in downtown, as well as a number of preemption receptors. Project manager David Plyler said he doesn't know how many receptors will be installed, or when the project will be complete.
Work on the project began in mid-March.
"We are still in the process of changing out all the lights and syncing everything together," Mr. Plyler said. "It's going to be a little while."
Meanwhile, officials are installing a number of preemption receptors on traffic lights at various intersections downtown.
The receptors, preempted by signals from emergency vehicles, can extend a green light or speed up the entire cycle's timing - depending on where the emergency vehicle is - as a way to decrease response time, Mr. May said.
"It's a time and safety issue," Mr. May said. "It's pretty advanced technology, and according to reviews from cities who have installed them, it's pretty effective."
As for the future of red-light cameras, state Sen. John Blake, D-22, Archbald, said he originally supported the bill - voting yes in October 2011, to approve a measure that would allow most of the state's large and mid-sized cities to introduce the red-light camera program. Since then, though, his stance has changed.
In a statement to the Times-Tribune, Mr. Blake said: "My position evolved, however, when I was notified that other factors may be motivating the expansion of red light cameras - namely, revenue generation for local municipalities and the benefits accruing to the private concerns that sell or manage this service for local governments."
As a result, he doesn't believe the area will see the system any time soon, saying: "I do not foresee an expansion of additional pilot programs for red light cameras unless it were to become part of a Corbett Administration initiative, or unless a very strong and widespread consensus among local government officials statewide were to mobilize and seek expansion for their communities."
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