With winter weather in full swing, you may want to take a look at your commute before hitting the road, and now Monroe County is making it easier than ever with a renewed service. 

Several years ago, Monroe County offered residents a live-look at traffic cameras through the help of a third party.

“[The system] proved to be somewhat problematic, unreliable and our connections were often broken and not fixed," said Timothy Frelier, Monroe County's Director of Transportation. "So as a result of that we looked for a better opportunity.”

That opportunity presented itself Tuesday night when county officials announced a partnership with the state DOT offering a unified and more cost-effective system.

It’s called 511NY and can be accessed by anyone through their website as well as now county’s website, to monitor traffic conditions and live traffic camera feeds.

“Anyone can access it from their home computer, through the county’s website to provide access not only the 100-plus cameras on our system, but also other state cameras that are on the system.” Frelier said.

If you want to access these cameras yourself, you can through the county's department of transportation website or 511NY. Once there, you can click on the "Camera List," and filter your results to best view the area you'd like to see.

“Our role and objective is to provide efficient traffic flow for the users of the roads in our county," Frelier said. "And this tool provides the mechanism for us to do that.”

However, it isn’t just the state and county DOTs that can make use of it.

“If you can see exactly on the roads, how the actual roads [look], how they’re bad, the visibility, if they’re covered in snow or ice, it’s beneficial to say I won’t take that route home, I need to find a different road to be home so I can get home safe.” said Rochester resident Marcy Mcullough.

Others say there are more convenient methods available.

“I don’t know if I’d use it or not, but I think it’s OK that they’re offering it," said Adriene Murray, another Rochester resident. "I mean some people will check just to see what roads to take.”

However you get your traffic news, the county says it’s just another tool available if you want it.

“Things change fairly rapidly as well. So just because you look at it, it doesn’t mean it’ll be that way in an hour," Frelier said. "But proper planning always leads to a better outcome.”