CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Crews working on the toll-lane construction along Interstate 77 have to cut some power lines and fiber. That is why many traffic cameras aren't working.
The Department of Transportation uses the cameras to spot wrecks, spills and disabled vehicles.
“When you have construction, you're disturbing the dirt, you're putting in pipe systems, drainage, pavement, etc., you're digging," Scott Cole, with the DOT, said.
The DOT has about 35 cameras from the state line to Iredell County.
There were only 15 working the last time DOT checked.
Channel 9 has access to those cameras too and when we checked, only two were working. One at Catawba Avenue and at W.T. Harris Boulevard.
In 2015, Channel 9 reported how first responders were concerned about I-77 construction.
Last year, the DOT reported a spike in crashes in the I-77 construction zone and, just last week, Channel 9 watched as firefighters struggled to get through I-77 traffic to an overturned tractor-trailer.
Now, fewer traffic cameras are working.
Cole said the DOT is working with the contractor, Sugar Creek Construction, and Duke Energy to get all the cameras up and running and meeting with emergency responders monthly.
“To make them aware of exactly the configuration in the work zone and how to get to and respond to incidents," he said.
He said even when all the cameras are working, the DOT relies heavily on its safety patrol crews and Highway Patrol as its eyes on the highway.