Q: Around two years ago, a number of camera-looking boxes were installed along University Boulevard in Cherry Hills Village, Greenwood Village and Centennial. I’m curious as to what they do and how they work. (What do they transmit and where do they transmit it?) I never read anything about them.
Joseph D. Romley, Centennial
A: The cameras, known as arterial vehicle detection systems, are used by the Colorado Department of Transportation as part of T-REX (the Transportation Expansion Project). They are used to detect and monitor traffic on freeways and other major arteries for local agencies. They are not video cameras. The cameras help the traffic operations staff monitor and manage regional traffic by observing the average speed and congestion. You also may observe real-time information on the Internet as part of this program at www.trexproject.com. Click on “construction updates,” click on “real time information” and click the link for the real-time map. The legend on the right explains that green on the map means light or no congestion, yellow means medium congestion, and red means heavy congestion.
Sources: Colorado Department of Transportation; T-REX website (www.trexproject.com)
Q: Where does a person recycle plastic bags such as the ones used for The Denver Post or grocery bags in the Denver metro area?
A: Eco-Cycle/Boulder Center for Hard-to-Recycle Materials (CHaRM), at 5030 Pearl St. in Boulder, will accept plastic bags marked with a No. 2 or No. 4 only (which primarily includes grocery bags, dry-cleaning bags, and newspaper bags). They must be clean, dry and empty.
All Albertsons stores will accept plastic grocery bags at their stores for recycling.
Sources: Eco-Cycle (www.ecocycle.org/htrg/index.cfm); Albertsons
Compiled by Bonnie Gilbert
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