Algonquin trustees to vote on eliminating red light camera program

Algonquin may be getting rid of its red light cameras after officials noticed a decrease in traffic violations within the village.

Village Manager Tim Schloneger said he recommends putting an end to the village's red light safety program, which has cameras installed at the Randall and Algonquin roads intersection, as well as the intersection at Randall Road and Bunker Hill Drive/Huntington Drive.

Trustees will vote Tuesday on the staff's recommendation not to renew the program, which began in the village in 2008. If it is approved, the program would end April 30.

"It was never intended to be something in place permanently," Schloneger said. "It was always a public safety program to create awareness and change behavior. As soon as we accomplished that goal, it was time to remove them."

Since the program started, the number of traffic citations issued by the village has declined from 6,937 in 2009 to 1,766 in 2015, according to village documents.

"The goal is always to change driver behavior," Schloneger said. "That was demonstrated."

The number of crashes at the intersections remained consistent since cameras were installed, Schloneger said.

The first few years of the program, when traffic violations were high in volume, Algonquin received a small amount of revenue, Schloneger said, though he was unable to provide specific numbers. The village was just about breaking even in recent years, he said.

"(Making money) wasn't the purpose of the program," he said.

If trustees agree to end the program, officials will continue monitoring the village's traffic violation and crash data, Schloneger said.

"As long as we don't see a dramatic uptick of crashes at intersections, we have no plans to bring (the red light cameras) back," he said.