Naperville's red-light cameras returning by year's end

After a brief delay and a vendor change, Naperville's red-light cameras are expected to be back up and running by the end of the year.

Councilmen late Tuesday approved a roughly $374,000 contract with Redflex Traffic Systems, Inc. of Culver City, Ca. to install the cameras along state and county roads.

Redflex and city officials will evaluate three Route 59 intersections at 95th Street, North Aurora Road and Diehl Road and the intersection of Ogden and Aurora avenues to determine which one has the most potential safety benefit and construction feasibility.

Once a location is selected within three weeks, two cameras will be installed at that intersection. Staff then will track how many violations happen at that spot over a four-month period before more cameras are installed at other intersections.

Ultimately, Naperville officials hope to have cameras installed at 10 to 15 intersections throughout the city.

Once installed, a 30-day warning period will begin, likely in mid-December. After that, $100 tickets will be issued. The fine jumps to $125 if someone fights the ticket and loses.

"I'm very pleased with the selection of this vendor, and I think they've demonstrated success with the program in the city of Chicago," Councilman James Boyajian said. "That bodes well for their work in Naperville."

Last September, the city hired Maryland-based Traffipax, Inc. to operate cameras at the intersections of Fort Hill Drive and Aurora Avenue and 95th Street and Book Road. The cameras were expected to be installed in January, with the goal of issuing $100 citations to violators 30 days later.

The city initially expected to bring in $2.4 million in revenue from those cameras but lowered that figure to $891,300 to account for unforeseen circumstances.

After months of delays in getting the cameras up and running, the city in April terminated its contract with Traffipax.

"The previous vendor failed to comply with the contract," Councilman Kenn Miller said. "Based on that experience we needed to look for the best vendor.

"We will generate revenues," Miller added. "All councilmen will agree that the purpose of this is for safety, but we will generate revenues."

The proposed cameras along Route 59 are expected to generate more money per month than they would on the city streets that were originally part of the plan, balancing out the late start.