SLEX installs high-clarity cameras

MANILA, Philippines – High-clarity cameras have been installed in the South Luzon Expressway (SLEX) as part of its international safety features.

With the installation of the video, traffic violators, hijackers, guard-rail and cable thieves, even kids throwing trash out of vehicle windows in any part of the SLEX, are now being caught in the act on camera, monitored and recorded at the South Luzon Tollway Operation Control Center (OCC) in Mapagong, Calamba City, Laguna, according to traffic controllers.

The cameras with up to 1.2 kilometer range coverage have been installed one kilometer apart throughout the 29-kilometer expressway. They transmit real-time video to a bank of 50 monitor screens in the OCC, watched by traffic controllers who can swivel the camera eye to a complete 360 degrees, and zoom into the faces of drivers and passengers, plate numbers and other identifying marks of any vehicle on both directions of the tollway from Alabang to Calamba, traffic controllers also said.

Seamless, end- to-end video monitoring is one of the safety assurances built into the fully reconstructed SLEX to help reduce incidences of criminal activity and traffic violations.

Traffic controllers monitoring an accident, hijack or road altercation can visually track a fleeing suspect up to one kilometer in any direction, and report the same to the nearest deputized police patrolling the area and to other augmentation units. Footages can provide more conclusive evidence to aid police investigation and will be archived for future reference, according to a report.

The high-tech eyes on the road also speeds up emergency response to motorists in distress since the location, source and gravity of the traffic incident can be established instantly. Even small belongings falling on the road will be easily spotted and retrieved for their owners.

In case of brownouts, emergency batteries automatically power the monitoring system until the generators kick in, the report also showed.

The same safety devices have been installed in all of the 19 toll plazas in the reconstructed SLEX and are now being mounted on the new SLEX extension from Calamba to Sto. Tomas, Batangas. The extension, a four-lane tollway linking SLEX to the STAR Tollway will soon be opened to traffic.

International safety

Installations compliant with international safety specifications, such as the video monitoring system were introduced by the SLEX concessionaire SLTC starting May, when its operation and maintenance company MATES took over the administration of the expressway from PNCC.

Lamposts have been lined up on the carriageway median, all entry and exit roads, toll plazas and interchanges. The old SLEX was built without lighting provisions and except for city street lighting around the Alabang Viaduct, had remained dark for 30 years, the report showed.

Variable Message Signs (VMS), inform motorists of the traffic conditions ahead, exact location of accidents if any, and may suggest alternate actions a driver can take to avoid inconvenience.

Messages on the VMS can be clearly read both day and night.

Moreover, inadequate drainage causing flooding in several areas, have been corrected. In most flood prone areas, fronting the Alaska complex in San Pedro. The road was raised to 1.2 meters over a three-barrel reinforced concrete culvert and the new soak-away technology was used to prevent flooding, the report showed.

While it is universally accepted that widened roads encourage speeding which leads to higher incidences of accidents, police and SLEX traffic management records covering the last three years ending in 2009 show a decline in the number traffic accidents, with the greatest reduction of 50 percent in 2009.