A camera at I-70 and Stadium is just one monitor MoDOT is using to watch traffic in mid-Missouri.

"They are video cameras, and they take snapshots from those images and we put them on the website," said Matt Myers of MoDOT.

Seven cameras are located at five different locations. Three are on Interstate 70 exits in Columbia. Another in Jefferson City sits at the Missouri Boulevard and Rex Whitton Expressway. The Missouri River Bridge near Rocheport also has a camera.

But the cameras are not just for MoDOT. Anyone can find the images on MoDOT's website and see what's happening, at least in Columbia.
Simply log on to modot.org/central and click on the "real time traffic link to access the modot traffic cameras" and choose the location you would like to view.

MoDOT says the cameras help motorists monitor traffic delays and plan alternate routes. The cameras are also linked to the Missouri State Highway Patrol.

"We would utilize those if we were called to an accident in that location where we knew there was a camera. We might ask our radio or communications personnel to get on the website, take a look, and see if they could give us any type of information that would help with our response to the scene," said Missouri State Highway Patrol Lieutenant Vernon Dougan.

For now, police are not using the cameras to catch law breakers on the roadways, but that could change in the future.