New cameras installed at the intersection of U.S. Highway 231 and South Brundidge Street in Troy have stirred talk in town about how the cameras would be used.

The Alabama Department of Transportation installed the cameras a few weeks ago and report they aren’t red light cameras. Instead, the cameras are part of a vehicle detection system that triggers a change in the intersection light cycle.

“More and more we are using this camera vehicle detection system,” said Tony Harris, media and community relations bureau chief at ALDOT. “It is more efficient. It allows the signal changes to respond to actual traffic conditions.”

Other intersections in the area and across the state use timers or loop detection in the roadway to trigger light changes.

“That is probably the busiest intersection in Troy, so it makes sense to install that technology there,” Harris said. “Over time, we are going to see more use of vehicle detection cameras at intersections.”

The cameras were installed at the same time ALDOT crews replaced old signal heads with new modern ones at the intersection.

Harris said any push for cameras that would catch traffic violations at traffic lights would have to come at the local level from the police department and move through the city council.

Those cameras would be installed by a company contracted by the city, not ALDOT.