Wheeling considers intersection cameras

Wheeling may become the next town to install cameras to catch drivers going through red lights.

The village board discussed the idea -- along with a few others initiated by the police department -- at a workshop meeting earlier this week.

Village Manager Mark Rooney said many of these items will likely come back to the board for a vote shortly.

Rooney said the board also discussed having an adjudicating officer come into Wheeling every two weeks to handle tickets from the cameras and parking tickets.

That way, he said, residents wouldn't have to trek to the Rolling Meadows courthouse for minor traffic infractions.

"It's been discussed with the police department for six, seven months, but it takes a while to research it," he said.

The village has also been discussing impounding vehicles when drivers are arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs in town, as other towns in the area have done.

Rooney said the red light camera program would pay for itself with the fines collected. However, he said the size of the fines is still under review because the village is talking to a few vendors.

"It won't be actual money that exists now in the budget," he said. "There's no money even up front."

The cameras have already been put in place in Chicago, Rosemont and Prospect Heights. Elk Grove Village and Rolling Meadows approved the initiative within the past few months.