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Q: My husband and I travel to the east coast quite often via Alligator Alley. We are very curious as to the new poles they have built along the alley that look like light poles but are not. They have a small gadget at the tip like a small bulb, but again they are not lamp poles. Now they have installed some solar panels on some of them which is a good idea but they already had buried all the electrical lines before installing the poles. Another question is how did the name “Maida Lane” come about in Fort Myers. My name is Maida and that is why I am so curious. Thanks.

-- Maida G. Domenie/Naples

Q: While returning from Miami on I-75 this past weekend, I noticed dome surveillance cameras mounted atop large aluminum colored light polls, separated by less than a quarter mile from one camera to the next, east from U.S. 27 all the way west through exit 101, Collier Boulevard. What is the purpose of all those cameras? Is there an authority who intends to monitor, in real time, everyone who drives on I-75 from Weston to Naples?

-- Lawerance Shine/Naples

A: Well, Maida and Lawerance, just like the song says, “Somebody’s Watching You” — starting next summer, anyway. The poles you’re seeing on I-75 are components of the Florida Department of Transportation’s $35 million Intelligent Transportation System, or ITS. And you’re right, Lawerance, those dome-looking things at the top of them are cameras.

If you’ve traveled I-4 between Tampa and Orlando, you already know how the system works. The cameras, which can pan left or right or even zoom in, spot problems in the road — everything from accidents to foggy conditions to traffic jams. The lines you saw being buried are actually the means by which the images will be transmitted from the highway to a building that’s now under construction near the Daniels Parkway interchange in Lee County. That facillity will be staffed by Florida Highway Patrol troopers and FDOT personnel from that agency’s motor carrier complance and traffic units. One whole wall inside the building will consist of rows and rows of TV screens, all flashing real-time images from the cameras on Alligator Alley and Lee and Collier counties.

That brings us to the other component to the system: overhead electronic flashing signs along the interstate. When problems are spotted, someone in the Daniels Parkway facility will program the signs to warn drivers of what’s ahead and offer alternate routes if possible. The signs on I-4 have also been used to publicize Amber alerts.

Maida — as to your question about how Maida Lane got its name, I’m afraid I don’t have a definitive answer — yet. I took your question to Victor Zarick, a researcher/historian with the Southwest Florida Museum of History in Fort Myers. He browsed through a couple of publications that outline the area’s history but didn’t find mention of it.

Victor says developers often name streets after family members. After eyeing a map of that general area, which is located off Gladiolus Drive, he said his best guess — emphasis on the word “guess” — is that Maida was the name of the developer’s wife.

“If there had been two female names in that same area I’d venture I’d say one was probably the wife and one was a daughter. Since there’s only one I’m going to go out on a limb and say I’m thinking it was his wife,” he said.

Victor’s advice is to put the word out to long-timers to see if anyone has an answer. How about it, readers? Anyone know how Maida Lane came to be named? If so, please shoot me an e-mail or call me at 213-6065.

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Karie Partington is the Bonita Springs Bureau Chief for the Daily News. E-mail questions for this column to her at kjpartington@bonitanews.com.

For a complete archive of "In the Know" columns, click on naplesnews.com/intheknow/