Alex Krechkin of the Maine Department of Transportation installs a high-tech device at Franklin Arterial and Commercial Street in Portland to help the sight-impaired and other pedestrians cross more safely.
The devices, made by Massachusetts-based Migma Systems, include cameras to detect when pedestrians are ready to cross a street. They either activate a pedestrian signal automatically or sound a tone to help the vision-impaired find a button to activate the walk signal.
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Portland received a grant from the Federal Highway Administration to install the systems here and at the Park Avenue-Deering Avenue intersection as a demonstration project.
The systems will collect data for the 18-month test. At the end of the test period, Portland will be able to keep the devices.
City officials noted that the cameras will not record images.
— From staff reports
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