Within a few months, Santa Clarita could have more than 30 television cameras recording motorists at the city’s busiest intersections, officials said.

The Santa Clarita City Council tonight will consider adding nine closed-circuit televisions at intersections around Santa Clarita.

The city has already installed 26 cameras over the past few years, said Assistant Engineer Terry Brice.

The video cameras are used to monitor traffic at intersections in real time and they will not be used to issue traffic tickets, said City Engineer Curtis Nay.

The video resolution isn’t clear enough to show drivers’ faces, and none of the video is saved by the city, said city spokeswoman Gail Ortiz.

“It’s not to go back and look at accidents or look at anybody,” Nay said. “It’s to look at cars, accidents and congestion and try to find out what is the cause of traffic backups.”

The project is the third phase of the city’s plan to install fiber-optic cables and computer equipment underneath Santa Clarita streets to better manage traffic congestion. It will cost about $2.5 million. More than $2 million comes from grants, and the city covers the rest, Nay said.

The video and fiber-optics makes adjusting traffic lights much quicker, Nay said.

“It helps if we get a call at a remote intersection,” Nay said. “Geographically, the city is quite large. Now, using our operation center, we can see what is happening in real time and adjust signal timing.”

Along with the closed-circuit televisions, the council will consider adding 14 miles of fiber-optic cables to send traffic data to the traffic control center in City Hall.

Fiber-optic cables send data faster and are more reliable than copper wiring Santa Clarita uses in other parts of the city, Nay said.    

Workers could begin installing the cameras and fiber-optics in about a month, pending City Council approval, Brice said.