Red-light cameras get green light in Geneva

Red-light traffic ticket cameras are coming to Geneva, officially.

The Geneva city council Monday voted 9-1 to hire Redflex to install automatic camera systems at four intersections to take pictures of vehicles that run red lights. The company will send the images to the Geneva Police Department, where officers will review them to determine which are ticket-worthy.

Redflex will then send out tickets and collect fines. The contract calls for it to share revenues with the city above the cost of installing and running the cameras.

The intersections are Kirk Road at Fabyan Parkway, Randall Road at Kaneville/Keslinger Road, Randall at Williamsburg Avenue and Randall at Fargo Boulevard. The intersections rank sixth, seventh, 15th and 24th on the list of Kane County's 50 most dangerous intersections, according to Geneva police.

Of four aldermen who voted against the cameras at an October meeting, three changed their minds Monday and voted in favor. Alderman Dorothy Flanagan was the sole "no" vote.

In October, Alderman Craig Maladra was concerned about the privacy rights of drivers and voted against it. On Monday night, he grilled a Redflex representative about whether the cameras could pick up details to distinguish specialized license plates, if there would be signs posted warning motorists that cameras were in use, how long videos and photographs would be stored, who would store those images, and how reports of violations and collections would be reconciled.

But further research convinced him the system should be approved. On a ride-along with Geneva police, he said he learned that it would be difficult for police officers in squad cars to effectively catch red-light violators, because of the design of the roads and intersections. One example, he said, is the landscaped median in the middle of Randall Road, required by the city when Geneva Commons was built, that prevents police officers from making left turns or U-turns.

"There's not a lot of room for police cars to sit (at an intersection), get out and catch violators," Maladra said.

"We all believe in our hearts this is going to reduce traffic crashes at those intersections," said Joe Frega, commander of the Geneva Police Department's patrol division.

Redflex still needs to get approval from the Kane County Division of Transportation to install the cameras, since the intersections are on county roads.