The recently installed weather and web traffic camera on Leith Saddle section of the Northern Motorway near Dunedin.
The station maintained under a partnership arrangement between the Transport Agency and MetService is a major leap forward in the level of weather and road condition information available to road users.
Transport Agency Otago-Southland Journey Manager Graeme Hall, says this technology should reduce delays for road users when the motorway is affected by ice and snow. This is because before they drive, theythe can go on-line and see for themselves what conditions are really like on the Leith Saddle section of the Northern Motorway. They can then use that information to make more informed choices around their travel plans.
Over the last five years, Leith Saddle has had more weather related closures than any other section of SH1 between Dunedin and Christchurch.
Graeme says we’ve been looking for ways to minimise these delays and the new weather station and web camera is a big step in the right direction. With its night time vision capability, the web camera produces around-the-clock real time images of SH1 at the Leith Saddle.
“The weather station has an important role as well, providing customers with a range of information from highway surface temperatures to the amount of de-icing material that’s been applied to the road surface.”
The web camera images can be viewed at the MetService web page. They are uploaded every four minutes onto the travel information pages of our website.