Most drivers in Suffolk the last few weeks have likely run over at least one, if not several, traffic counters on roads spread throughout the city.

Each time they’ve done so, they’ve run up the traffic count on that road by one.

The wires strung across the roads are part of efforts by both the city and the Virginia Department of Transportation to keep track of the amount of traffic on the roads.

“This is part of the city’s annual traffic count effort to gather data on the number of vehicles various roadways within the city are carrying,” city spokeswoman Debbie George said. “This documentation helps us target various grants and to work with developers and others on future roadway improvement efforts.”

George said the city’s yearly effort usually occurs between April and October.

In addition to the city’s counters, the transportation department also has a number of counters on the streets, said Brooke Grow, a spokeswoman for VDOT.

“It’s part of the three-year count program,” Grow said. “This is the year to do the program for Suffolk.”

The traffic counts gathered by VDOT are reported to the Federal Highway Administration to determine how much federal funding is allocated to the city to maintain its roads, Grow said.