Red light cameras to monitor Ogden at Eola

Drivers heading east or west on Ogden Avenue at Eola Road in Aurora soon will be under the watch of a red-light camera.

The city began installing cameras at that intersection Thursday and the devices are scheduled to be operating by the week of Nov. 21, city spokesman Dan Ferrelli said.

The intersection of Ogden Avenue and Eola Road was the site of 66 crashes in 2009 the highest number at any intersection citywide, according to a study of police reports. This year, the intersection ranks third in terms of crashes, with 49 through Oct. 31.

The intersection also is home to Waubonsie Valley High School and Gregory R. Fischer Middle School, making it critical to increase safety there, said Alderman Rick Mervine, whose ward includes the intersection.

“If somebody goes through a red light at that particular intersection and there are students there, you have the option of possibly injuring pedestrians as well,” Mervine said. “I'm absolutely in favor of it in some of these intersections that can benefit greatly from a red-light camera.”

Other Aurora intersections with cameras include New York Street at Commons Drive, Eola Road and Farnsworth Avenue, and the intersection of Farnsworth Avenue and Molitor Road.

These intersections have seen 16 to 38 accidents this year through Sept. 30, Ferrelli said. In the spring, the city will begin another analysis of police reports at these intersections to determine whether the cameras have helped decrease the number of accidents, he added.

The city has a contact with red-light camera company Red Flex to operate cameras at 25 approaches, and did not need separate city council approval to add cameras to Ogden and Eola, Ferrelli said. An approach represents one direction of traffic that is monitored by a camera.

None of the red light cameras will be connected to Aurora's new traffic control system, traffic engineer Eric Gallt said, because the new system is not designed for traffic law enforcement.

“The red light cameras are run by the police department,” Gallt said. “While they communicate somewhat with the (traffic control) system, they're separate.”