Reason dozens of cameras appeared on M5 holiday route

The appearance of dozens of traffic cameras on the M5 in the South West has been explained by highways chiefs. People have been questioning the reasons behind the installation of the cameras alongside the M5 near Weston-super-Mare and on other busy regional routes including the A370.

National Highways has now revealed the reasons for the cameras and say they were being used for surveys to inform the latest traffic[1] modelling around junction 21 of the M5. A total of 60 cameras were installed at 60 locations alongside the M5, on roads north and south of Weston-super-Mare[2] and across the A370 and A371.

The surveys have been taking place throughout the week and have since finished, with he cameras due to be removed. National Highways south west planning team leader Lisa McCaffery said: “We have installed traffic[3] survey cameras in a number of Weston-super-Mare locations which will record vehicle volumes to update our traffic modelling for junction 21 of the M5.

“National Highways has a legal obligation to process data when carrying out public tasks such as traffic[5] counting surveys, and we ensure that the right safeguards are in place to keep information safe. The cameras will simply be counting vehicles for traffic modelling purposes only.”

References

  1. ^ traffic (www.somersetlive.co.uk)
  2. ^ Weston-super-Mare (www.somersetlive.co.uk)
  3. ^ traffic (www.somersetlive.co.uk)
  4. ^ Lorry occupants injured after M5 crash near Cheltenham (www.gloucestershirelive.co.uk)
  5. ^ traffic (www.somersetlive.co.uk)