Edmonds to test red-light cameras
• Three busy intersections will host trial cameras
First they were in Seattle, then Lynnwood, then almost everywhere
– Issaquah, Puyallup, Spokane – and now red-light cameras appear headed to
Edmonds, at least on a trial basis.
The city approved Sept. 16 the
installation of trial cameras at three busy intersections in south
Edmonds.
The intersections include all four directions of 220th
Street Southwest and Highway 99; north- and southbound Highway 99 at 238th
Street Southwest; and east- and westbound on Edmonds Way at 100th Avenue
West.
If the city ultimately installs the cameras, red-light
violators would be subject to $124 fines. The tickets are considered non-moving
violations.
There need to be 1.2 violations daily in each direction to
justify permanent cameras, said assistant chief of police Gerry
Gannon.
The trial will take place within the next month, officials
said.
It could be 2009 before permanent cameras are installed, Gannon
said.
Advocates believe the cameras increase safety at dangerous
intersections.
"If you have a crash in the middle of an intersection, it
is usually because somebody was not paying attention to the traffic signal,"
Edmonds police chief Al Compaan said Sept. 12. "I don't think there's any
question that at those intersections where cameras are installed, people are
better at taking the traffic signals seriously."
Each of the
intersections getting a camera in Edmonds has averaged about one right-angle
collision a year, said Bertrand Hauss, a traffic engineer with the
city.
They get crowded during rush hour, and drivers push the
limits, Hauss told the council's public safety committee in
August.
"There are probably a lot of near misses at those
intersections that we don't even know about," he said.
Not
everybody is in favor of the cameras. For instance, some believe the cameras are
used to help cities increase revenue.
Lynnwood, for example, raised
$1.1 million in red-light violations in the first six months after it installed
12 cameras last summer. Seattle also has raised millions.
That isn't
Edmonds' priority, Councilmember Deanna Dawson said Sept. 16.
Some
local cities, including Mill Creek and Mountlake Terrace, have considered the
cameras but found they didn't want them, or that drivers didn't run enough red
lights.That could happen in Edmonds, too.
"Going through the survey
is an important thing to do," Edmonds Mayor Gary Haakenson said in August. "We
may actually find out that we do not have a problem."
In Edmonds, the
test cameras would be installed and monitored by American Traffic Solutions, the
same company that has installed cameras elsewhere, including
Lynnwood.
If an intersection warrants a permanent camera, the city
would have to approve the final installation, but ATS would install and monitor
it for free.
ATS's fee is over $4,000 per camera, but the company
takes that money from collected violations, and promises the city will never
have to pay out of pocket, said Bill Kroske, the company's vice president of
business development.
Eyman and
I-985
Tim Eyman's newest initiative, I-985, would probably kill Edmonds'
red-light program.
The
initiative requires a city to spend all its red-light revenues relieving traffic
congestion, not on law enforcement like many cities choose, or reimbursing
companies like ATS and their camera fees.
Kroske said if Eyman's
initiative passes, the cameras will probably not get installed in Edmonds, and
could get pulled from cities across Washington
state.
Reporter Chris Fyall: 425-673-6525 or cfyall@heraldnet.com